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

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910780666303321
• Autore: Grant Jill
• 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.; Nova Scotia Halifax
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Contents -- Tables, Maps, Photographs, and Figures -- Acknowledgments -- PART 1: All the World's a Stage -- Introduction: 'Everyone Loves a Mystery' -- 1 THE PLANNING DRAMA -- Meaning and Explanation -- The Function of Planning -- Studying Planning Practice -- Planning for Democracy -- 2 STAGES, ACTORS, AND SCRIPTS -- The Stage -- Staging Performances -- The Actors -- Actors and Audiences -- The Script -- Examining the Script -- PART 2: Audience, Take Your Seats -- 3 DESPERATELY SEEKING DEVELOPMENT -- Regional Economic Context; Socio-historic ContextLegislative Context -- Local Action in Regional Context -- 4 PLANNING ISSUES IN PENINSULAR HALIFAX -- Halifax in the Postwar Period -- The 'Participation Era': The 1970s -- The Conservative 1980s -- From Overview to Specifics -- 5 MARKET PLACE PLAZA -- Act One -- Act Two -- Act Three -- 6 MITCHELL PROPERTY -- Act One -- Act Two -- Act Three -- PART 3: The Reviews Are In -- 7 STAGING PLANNING ACTIVITIES -- International and National Context ; -- The Provincial Context -- The Local Context -- The Influence of Culture; The Context of Action8 COMMAND PERFORMANCE -- Planners' Perspectives -- Elected Politicians -- Citizen Activists -- Actors in Interaction -- 9 SCRIPTS AND VALUES -- Values, Beliefs, and Meanings -- Complex Value Sets -- Values and Visions -- Language and Meaning -- Communication and Miscommunication -- Part 4: Planning in a Democratic Society -- 10 DEMOCRACY IN MYTH AND PRACTICE -- The Process of Democracy -- The Substance of Democracy -- Promoting Democracy in the 1990s -- Participation in a Democratic Society -- Democratic Spaces; Manipulation of the MassesWhat Is Democracy? -- 11 PLANNING MYTHS AND REALITY -- Lessons for Planning Theory and Practice -- Planning and Capitalism -- Planning and Participation -- Planning in Halifax -- Towards a Theory of Practice -- Appendix: Glossary of Terms and Short Forms -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- A -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- J -- M -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V
• 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.