1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910456513003321

Autore

Grant Jill

Titolo

The drama of democracy : contention and dispute in community planning / / Jill Grant

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Toronto, [Ontario] ; ; Buffalo, [New York] ; ; London, [England] : , : University of Toronto Press, , 1994

©1994

ISBN

1-282-04561-X

9786612045615

1-4426-7407-5

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (267 p.)

Disciplina

307.1/216/09716225

Soggetti

City planning - Citizen participation

City planning - Nova Scotia - Halifax - Citizen participation

Electronic books.

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Tables, Maps, Photographs, and Figures -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction: 'Everyone Loves a Mystery' -- 1. The Planning Drama -- 2. Stages, Actors, and Scripts -- 3. Desperately Seeking Development -- 4. Planning Issues in Peninsular Halifax -- 5. Market Place Plaza -- 6. Mitchell Property -- 7. Staging Planning Activities -- 8. Command Performance -- 9. Scripts and Values -- 10. Democracy in Myth and Practice -- 11. Planning Myths and Reality -- Appendix: Glossary of Terms and Short Forms -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

The drama of democracy seldom plays out as literally as it does in urban planning disputes. Yet these are complex dramas in which villains aren't clearly identified, protagonists are caught with ulterior motives, and fifth business runs rampant. In this book, Jill Grant aptly uses a dramaturgical metaphor to show how community planning offers illuminating episodes of the workings of democracy.Grant argues that planning provides a significant venue for the debate of major questions about how we govern ourselves. She illustrates her theory



with two case studies of planning disputes in Halifax. By examining the language and actions of the citizens, planners, and politicians involved in these disputes, Grant explores underlying motives and concerns. Overall, this work has much to say about the nature of cultural obstacles that prevent greater democracy. The author concludes that while democracy is a valued cultural concept, its practice proves weak.Much of the work on urban planning takes a socio-economic perspective; the cultural implications of planning are still largely unexplored. By applying a cultural analysis to contemporary case studies, this book takes up the slack, thereby providing a timely addition to existing literature.