The Communicative Planning

in the context of post political city

By: Khalafalla Omer M.Sc. Global Urban Development & Planning, University of Manchester, UK
Architect and Urban Planner MBA in Project Management, University of Science and Technology, Sudan
B.Sc. in Architecture and Spatial Planning, University of Science and Technology, Sudan
Email: khalaf_81@hotmail.com
Table of Contents

Introduction:- ............................................................................................................................................... 2

Section 1 The rise of post political cities:- ................................................................................................ 3

Section 2 - The politics and political in the context of consensual governance:- ..................................... 3

Section 3 The role of communicative planning in post political city:-..................................................... 4

Conclusion:- ................................................................................................................................................. 5

Reference List:- ............................................................................................................................................ 6

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Introduction:-

Inclusive development that shape the livelihood of many urbans residents is always been
questioned by policy makers, urban planners and social movements activists, the urban planning
process and systems and governance approaches are the formal city mechanism in which we
can examine how cities are taking the role of addressing urban challenges. In this short essay, I
will examine the strength impacts of communicative planning in the context of post political
cities which are ruled by consensual techno managerial neoliberal governance.

In order to examine the role of communicative planning in addressing the urban planning
challenges within the post political cities, it will become necessary to understand the evolving of
post political cities as a consequence of global financial powers movements, free trades and free
markets international agreements. As well, addressing the main policy powers that accrued in
the post political neoliberal cities and its implimpications towards urban challenges would create
an opportunities to identify the social struggles, conflicts and the missing gabs in achieving
inclusive development for the entire community sectors.

The governance approach in the modern neoliberal cities is one of the main contexts of how
officials and policy makers are playing their role in urban planning process. Some see that the
consensual techno managerial governance approach is a faade of economic powers; others see
that consensual managerial governance have to be shifted to more deliberative process to
achieve sustainable development. However, the consensual managerial governance tends to
question the moral values in achieving sustainable development; in many cases the economic
interests of investors were in fact dominate other social environmental interests. As well, in many
cases, the local communities sectors are excluded from the process of planning systems
represented in the techno managerial governance context whether it runs by statuary regulation
force or a more discretionary regulations. Its necessary then, to examine the impact of
communicative planning process to the planning process taken by techno managerial
governance approach.

Communicative planning can be established in multi-scales contexts, whether within

neighborhood and city zoon, or within local and national level. However, creating a proper
communicative planning approach required addressing the threads and opportunities that may
face implementing such approaches. Its necessary to end up with brought macro and micro
examples from different point of views. On one hand, from policy makers, officials and other
urban actors associated with the governments points of view. And on the other hand, from
citizen groups and movements points of view, whether in they are initiative groups or struggling
groups. So as to deepen the understanding of social forces and gaps that affect implementing
sustainable developments for the sake of social welfare.

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Section 1 The rise of post political cities:-

The contemporary neoliberal modern cities are containing a lot of socio economic dynamics. In
fact, these cities are governed by techno managerial consensual governance, by which the
governments are creating a platform to attract financial capitals to shape the urbanism of the
cities; cities in that sense are a place where financial capitals are competing and marketise the
space of social existence for the sake of profits and growth. A new form of urban life is raised
such as high-rise buildings, high-standard urban provision, social-housing, mega-events, and
consuming products. However, there is still many community sectors excluded from the new
form of urbanity. While a lot of people are enjoying the urban life of contemporary neoliberal
cities, there are other marginalized groups excluded from the urban development process and
out-come. In other words, cities become a space for innovations, creativeness, and
competitiveness for many companies and organizations. However, there are still on-going
contestation and political discontents among many groups of marginalized people; this situation
is becoming worse since the global financial crises at 2008. In many democratic regimes there
were no space for marginalized group to debate about their needs, the only way for people to
make their voice heard is to take their bodies into street. This situation leads to what called post
political insurgent cities characterized by the fall of consensual governance in delivering
inclusive and sustainable developments. This situation is obviously noted in social movements
such as Indignados in Spain, Occupy Wall Street and Arab Spring in Tunis and Egypt.

Section 2 - The politics and political in the context of consensual governance:-

In order to address the role communicative planning in the context of post political cities, we
have first to address the policies powers dynamics in these cities. There are differences between
Politics and Political. On one hand, politics represents the strategies, procedures, actions,
institutions, entities by which a group of people take a decision on agreed problem. On the
other hand, political represents the rise of radical disagreements by a part of community. The
rise of political disagreement in post-political cities refers to the fact that consensual techno
managerial governance represents the economic power faade, by which the space of
deliberative democracy is narrowed to address terms like urban growth, sustainable
development and urban ecology for in rational enumerative way and for the sake of financial
power interests. In fact, sustainable development is not yet balanced the economic and
environmental approach to social interests. Thus, the phenomena of insurgent cities are still
taking place in many contemporary cities. Communicative planning in that sense playing a major
role in creating a platform for insurgent societies to be a part of urban development process for
the sake of inclusive development.

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3- The role of communicative planning in post political city:-

Communicative planning has the ability to breakdown the democratic process into a wide
deliberative democratic process, thus its avoiding marginalization that accrued by the
consensual techno managerial governance run by management experts. In fact, communicative
planning playing a major role of engaging community sectors to negotiate, determine and
address their problems. As a consequence, community sectors in the context of communicative
planning process turn into pro-active citizens because they are able to participate to change
their existence conditions.

Many approaches examining how communicative planning can play a major role in the post
political cities, following is short brief drawn from Swedish context of planning and Orelands
French Quarter as well. The first example can be seen as macro-example, while the other one
represent a micro example.

A study drawn from Swedish context, shows that there are four considerations that may
underpin the communicative planning process; those threads should be taken into account in
order to draw in a proper communicative planning methodology. First, the communicative
planning should not engage the public sectors for the sake of politics interest, instead it should
led the public to take the part of all process in identifying the problems, managing the process
and build up the plans, in that sense planners and politicians should play the role of facilitating
the planning process platform to be shared among all community sectors planning process.
Second, the communicative planning process should not make the process for the favor of
strong high positions public groups, in contrast, the process should be shared equally among all
public groups whether the high or less positions groups, so as to ensure an inclusive out comes
for all groups, in this case, the communicative planning process would be a friend of all groups.
Third, communicative planning should align public aims with markets aim in order to ensure a
proper delivering of sustainable development. Lastly, the legitimacy should be shared by all
participants as the communicative create a sense of social contract that produced by all
participants groups.

Another study in Orleans French Quarter shows that planners have limited power to deliver a
communicative planning. Although, there are many initiative community sectors marginalized
from being a part of the planning process. The study suggest that another approach of
communicative planning have to take place to decenter the role of planner and policy makers so
to construct a collective definitions and means for all the planning process. The study approves
that communicative planning has the ability to consider the values as socially constructed idea.

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Conclusion:-

The neoliberal cities aims to be a space where financial capitals is seeking profit interests, the
consensual techno managerial governments in that sense favor the economic powers in
delivering sustainable developments . This approach built new form of modern urbanity.
However, there are rises of many discontent political movements in post political cities.
Communicative planning tends to play a major role in creating a deliberative democracy and
meet the interest of marginalized and initiative community sectors. However, it has to go in a
proper process to be friendly for all groups and at the same time equally managed among all
sectors, whether in national, state or local level. Communicative In that sense, communicative
planning has to take many considerations into account. Specially, the equitable sharing of all
communicative planning process, balance the interest of markets and public, keep the
legitimacy of all participants groups and decenter the role of planners and politicians for the
sake of wide public group engagements.

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Reference List:-

Foley, J. (1997). Communicative planning theory and community initiatives. Available at:
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.425.9077 (Accessed: 13
January 2017).

Mannberg, M. and Wihlborg, E. (2007). Communicative Planning Friend or Foe?

Obstacles and Opportunities for Implementing Sustainable Development Locally. Available at:
http://www.academia.edu/12734061/Communicative_Planning_Friend_or_Foe_Obstacl
es_and_Opportunities_for_Implementing_Sustainable_Development_Locally
(Accessed: 14 January 2017).

Haughton, G. and Allmendinger, P. (2011). Post-political spatial planning in England:

a crisis of consensus?. Available at:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1475-5661.2011.00468.x/abstract
(Accessed: 15 January 2017).

Politics & the Political -- Erik Swyngedouw (2012) YouTube video, added by kentoncard [Online].
Available at
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Political+and+politics+erik&&view=detail&
mid=1EF1BBAEF016B7A53B921EF1BBAEF016B7A53B92&FORM=VRDGAR (Accessed: 16 January
2017).

The post-political city and the insurgent polis (2014) YouTube video, added by Manchester
Urban Institute [Online]. Available at
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=post+political+city+&&view=detail&mid=0F6
996AC0710EC5A7DB20F6996AC0710EC5A7DB2&FORM=VRDGAR
(Accessed: 17 January 2017).

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