The relevance of communicative planning theory to the integrated development planning.

Thesis (M.U.R.D.P.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2002.The research explores the relevance of communicative planning theory to South Africa's new development planning approach: the Integrated Development Planning. Communicative planning theorists claim that communication that meets Habermas's validity claims ofcomprehensibility, sincerity, legitimacy and truth could result in consensus being reached which will reduce power and conflict between participants. Tlie research investigates the extent to which the above contentions are valid in the context of Durban Metropolitan's Outer West Local Council's Integrated Development Planning. The research investigates the extent to which communication results in consensus. The research hypothesises that power is an important factor"in determining outcomes. The research explores the following questions in more detail: how does power of various actors shape planning outcomes? How does power penetrate good intentions of communicative planning? Is it meaningful to operate with a concept of communication in which power is absent? What is the impact of asymmetrical power relations to communication that is aimed at development planning? Is consensus an achievable ideal? Given the new and changing role of planners, can the planners' professional judgement be "neutralised" and can they act as valueneutral participants as the theorists claim? Tewdwr-Jones & Alldimendinger (1998) are critical of the diminishing role that is given to the planner by the collaborative planning theory. The research investigates the role of the planner by asking the following questions: what is and what should the role of planner be given that collaborative planning or communicative planning theorists tend to remove the planner from the centre to the periphery? Should there be a planner at all or can the community through participatory planning do it all by themselves without the need tor the 'expertise' ofa planner? What are the obstacles to eftective public participation that is aimed at building consensus and to what extent can individual stakeholders participate meaningfully. The assumption ofthe communicative planning theory is that when there is platform to participate, people will argue, talk, debate and negotiate. The research also contextualises the study by looking at contemporary literature on changing urban landscape: the new models ofmunicipal administration and governance ie.public-private partnerships, the macro-economic trends that would aftect the delivery ofplans and services. To accomplish this, the research looks at communicative planning theory in relation to the actual local development planning practice of the chosen case study area. There are principles of communicative planning which are similar to those ofthe IDP approach which make it safe for one to claim some resemblances between theory and the new approach. One such principle is the emphasis placed on communication between the planner and resident communities achieved through public meetings/workshops. The findings of this research show that communicative planning theory is relevant to South Africa's new Integrated Development Planning. The results of this research also show that communicative planning that meet the validity claims ofcomprehensibility, honesty, legitimacy and truthfuJnessare important because in the case study under discussion, development was derailed by the lack ofpolitical legitimacy (authority) and lack ofpower to take decisions, as a result the power of resident community overwhelmed those of planning consultants. Conflict resolution was not reached through communication between planners and resident communities because participants exercise their power to the detriment ofthe whole process. There were some difficulties in the application of communicative theory to real life planning practice in that the theory push for communication yet during participation citizens did not have enough skill and expertise that would enable them to participate meaningfully in the planning sessions. Communication therefore became a mere question and answer exercise and lacked effective argumentation, dialogue, negotiation, proper talk and debating. The findings of this research show that it is meaningless to operate with a concept of communication in which power is absent. Power has indeed been an important factor in determining outcomes in this planning initiative. To a greater extent, communication was penetrated by asymmetrical power relations between interlocutors - to such an extent that the development planning process came to a stand still. The findings also show that communicative rationality is a means to an end and not an end in itself The end product is a document which has to be produced using some technical rationalities. It was clear from the planning episodes and from interviews that consensus is not an achievable ideal. There are many factors that influence reaching consensus. The research also showed that it is not possible for planners to adopt a valueneutral stance during planning meetings given that they themselves are an interested party and not just observers. Their education and training makes them an interest group in their own right. The research has shown that true community participation (argumentation, talk, debate, negotiation) is dependent on the skills level of participants, their education, experience, background and personalities; these became hindrances or obstacles to effective communication. It was clear from the findings that the role ofplanners during the planning workshops is increasing instead of diminishing as the theorists contend. There are additional roles that planners have to play including capacity building, advising communities, playing advocacy role, filtering and mediating information and interests of various parties during planning meetings. There were technical skills that could only be obtained from the qualified planner, namely the ability to delineate boundaries using maps, writing technical reports and the ability to selectively collate information for processing using sophisticated computer packages

The Interface Between Practice and Theory Within Participation and Decision Making: The Development of a Precinct Plan in the Suburb of Bramley, Johannesburg

Planning Honours Report 2015, Wits UniversityIn essence the study will investigate the link between Governance and Development control and how fair and inclusive the processes of decision making are by looking at these processes in the formation of the Precinct Plan of a specific neighbourhood. At the end of this research process I outline what has been discovered through the research process and identify to what extent the participatory process within the Precinct Plan process has accounted for the different interests of different stakeholders. From that I deduce if and how the decision making process in precinct Plans needs to be changed to be more participatory or whether we need to find more pragmatic and contextually applicable participatory processes to ensure equal contribution in contested spaces. The main interest of this study investigates how different interests of stakeholders are managed .The study attempts to uncover the rationale behind changes in land use and the prioritisation of land use in that specific space and how these decisions are particularity influenced by interest-based negotiations

Principle based planning as a means of facilitating development: The provisions of the Development Facilitation Act and the proposals of the Green Paper on Development and Planning

This article is an attempt to place a perspective on the new system of planning proposed by the Green Paper on Development and Planning issued by the Department of Land Affairs in May 1999. It is to some extent based on comments made to the Department by the author on behalf of the Association of Consulting Town and Regional Planners (North Region), South Africa Planning Institution (Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Northern and North West Provinces) and the Association of Chartered Town Planners in South Africa. The kernel of the article arose from a debate regard­ing the desirability of having a statutory significance attached to policy documents. It will become evident that answering this point, which may, at first glance be a misleadingly simple one, has resulted in an examination of the new system of princi­ple based planning in the perspective of existing circumstances in planning and on the basis of the experiences of others in dealing with development. The debate regarding statutory significance is related to: the number of statutes affecting planning; the content and effect of land development objectives/integrated development plans and the effect on capacity in the profession. The system requires a significant adjustment to the way in which planning is approached. It is based on the interpretation of princi­ples and not a reliance on prescriptive mechanisms such as town-planning schemes. In the context of the new system and its manner of operation, there are contradictions in what is proposed by the new system. There are two main conclusions: that the content of Integrated Development Plans and the method of their formulation are critical in allowing principle-based planning to succeed; and that the legal requirement imposed on local authorities to plan has a significant effect on capacity and that present staffing policies actively work against the system being successful

Planning in the face of silence: A phronetic study of the restructuring of the planning function in the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality

The article provides an overview of the transformation of the planning function of the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality (CTMM) read against the study by Flyvbjerg (1998) of the Aalborg Project. It focuses specifically on the human experience of the transformation process and the influence that power relations had on the outcome thereof. The study is historically situated within the broader context of the restructuring of local government in South Africa following the advent of a democratic dispensation in 1994. Theoretically it is dealt with both from the perspective of organisational theory and that of contemporary planning theory. The analysis shows that the CTMM is still a strongly managerialist environment where power is vested in the organisational hierarchy. It furthermore shows that democratic ideals are yet to precipitate in the day­to-day operational activities of the municipality. The lack of regard for people is highlighted as a serious flaw in the transformation process. The role of communication as a powerful tool in exercising power is confirmed. More significantly, however, it is found that failure to communicate can be used effectively by those in power to silence the objections of the weaker party in an unequal power relationship

Towards sustainability via participation? environmental evaluation and land use planning in the Garden Route, South Africa

Bibliography: p. 222-237.This thesis seeks to relate the concept and practice of public participation (PP) to an evolving theory of sustainability. This relationship is framed within the context of the South African local state, where government institutions interact with civil society to support socio-economic development, as wen as environmental protection. In this respect, key mechanisms are land use planning and environmental evaluation, which interact to influence decision-making processes surrounding at times contentious land development applications. PP plays an important role in this process, and to analyse this role is the aim of this thesis

Integrated development planning and public participation : the case study of Shakaskraal - KwaDukuza Local Municipality.

Masters in Town Regional Planning. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Howard College 2015.Integrated development planning was introduced as a developmental planning tool in South Africa after 1994 to address the imbalances that were created during the Apartheid era. The intention was that all municipalities will produce and Integrated Development Plan (IDP) which will serve as the overarching development plan for the municipality. The IDP process plan would guide the development of the municipality and help to align its resources in order to achieve the goal of sustainable development. The plan was to be inclusive and based upon the engagement of communities at municipal level. Part of this process was to enable residents to drive the development process at local government level. Whilst the intentions of the plan were noble, municipalities across the country have been struggling to attain the objectives of the plan due to a range of reasons some of which include scarce resources at municipal level and lack of institutional capacity. The purpose of this study has been to focus in on the Integrated Development Plan prepared for the Local Municipality of KwaDukuza which is located in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. The research has specifically focused on the area of Shakaskraal because it represented a microcosm of the challenges and short comings of the IDP process at “community level”. The research explores and evaluates whether or not the IDP participatory process has managed to succeed in engaging the community of this area and ultimately encapsulated their concerns into the plan. The core of the evaluation lies in the assessment of the public participation processes of the municipality. By conducting this evaluation by means of questionnaires and in-depth interviews, it has been found that the community of Shakaskraal was not adequately informed of the IDP process, hence participation in the process has been minimal by the community. As a result, the community needs of the people of Shakaskraal have not been addressed in the IDP. Development has taken place since the introduction of IDPs in 2000 however, the development encapsulated in the three generations of IDPs prepared by the municipality is not that initiated by the community. In order for there to be overarching development in an area, residents need to be aware of the process of development. They need to understand how they fit into the process of integrated development planning and equally they need to actively participate in the development of the plan. The end result needs to be that communities own the IDP of their municipal area. They can only achieve this goal and add value to the IDP process if they are actual participants in the process. A plan would then emerge that would use their assets and provide strategies to enhance their livelihoods which will ultimately lead to sustainable development. The recommendation emerging from this research is that the KwaDukuza Local Municipality needs to find and devise innovative methods of public participation which do not rely solely on Ward Committees and Ward Councillors. Members of the community must be able to access local government from their most convenient point of access and through methods that are accessible and affordable. Only then will the desired environment of institutional accountability and transparency encapsulated in the principle of developmental local government and the objectives of the IDP be attainable

Power dynamics in a transforming local authority-planning environment: the Tshwane experience

This article presents a perspective on the complex, dynamic and illusive power relations that are omnipresent in the local authority-planning environment. It specifically unpacks the fine grain of the power web or the so-called "micro physics of power" (Watson, 2001), the different types of power, the ways in which the different powers traverse and change in the web, how they impact on each other (the general matrix of force relations), and lastly its impact on people and systems. This article presents a discussion on the inseparable relationship between power relations (see Foucault, 1969; 1975; 19940; l 994b) and social relations - and a perspective on how power relations are affected by social alignments, effective communication and communicative action - i.e. "the force of the better argument" (Habermas, 1983; 1984; 1987). Based on the work of, amongst others, Foucault (1969; 1975: 19940: l994b) and Habermas (1983; 1984; 1987), the article foregrounds new insight and counter-arguments on the debates regarding the relationship between power and rationality as captured in the work of Flyvbjerg (19980: 1998b); Watson (2001): Allmendinger (2001) and Hillier (2002)

Exploring the planning challenges of service delivery in local municipalities: the case of the Midvaal local municipality

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Development PlanningAt the birth of the democracy, there were countless hopes, promises and desires that came with the new era. Many South Africans had a renewed hope for improved living conditions and economic opportunities. The new hope and desires are well articulated in the African National Congress 1994 election slogan ‘a better life for all’. Provision of housing was amongst the list of promised goods. While many South Africans have received the houses they were promised, millions still reside in poor living conditions, crammed in shacks and squatter camps. Other communities have felt the brutal hand of the government, and have been uprooted from their homes to make way for new developments. The ferocious acts have not gone unnoticed by the affected communities as they have taken on the streets as a platform to demand for basic services to be delivered in their locations. In recent years, service delivery related protests have become the order of the day where communities are disregarding the current channels of engagement in favour of new insurgent practices. The new platforms of engagement create a labyrinth of complex situations that planners have to muddle through. With the mounting public protests and increasing demands for basic services, planners are inescapably knotted in complex situations that require immediate response. Planning in diverse and multi-cultural contexts is challenging as planners are confronted with a web of contextual, administrative and political issues. It is from this premise that the study explored the planning challenges of service delivery in local municipalities. The challenges were probed through exploring the planning challenges of delivering housing in local municipalities. From the discussions in the report and the chosen case study of Sicelo Shiceka informal settlement in Midvaal Local Municipality it was evident that there were complexities encountered when it came to delivering services in a context entangled in complex party politics. Issues of power, politics, limited capacity, multiple stakeholders, unrealistic demands and the multi-cultural contexts are just some of the few challenges planners stumble across. From the study, it was evident that the South African rhetoric on service delivery makes it difficult to deliver houses in such contexts as people feel entitled to the services but have no responsibility to the services. The study highlights the difficulty of planning within a maturing democracy. The research further suggests that planning is influenced by politics even when it comes from an objective approach

The institutional dynamics of participatory slum-upgrading processes: the case of Langrug informal settlement

Since the 1990s, South Africa has faced a high rate of urbanization and increasing formation of informal settlements. However, the focus of urban planning has not changed to accommodate new urban trends. The current dominant practice of urban planning, still rooted in the global North realism, reflects an increasing discord between current approaches and growing problems of poverty, inequality, informality, rapid urbanisation and socio-spatial fragmentation. Traditional urban planning approaches and state-led direct settlement interventions have arguably served to exclude the urban poor with a marked failure to sustainably address the problem of informal settlements. This research examines the case of Stellenbosch, Western Cape, and argues that the concept of coproduction is an alternative dynamic model that could be used to achieve inclusive and sustainable urban environments. Re-organising institutional relationships would arguably lead to a more successful service production approach and engagement between the state and the urban poor. I use the lens of coproduction to assess partnership-based in-situ community-driven informal settlement interventions. The research uses the Langrug informal settlement upgrading programme as a case study to analyse the institutional arrangements and to examine power relations in a context-specific coproduction process. The research uses semi-structured interviews, field observations and secondary data to examine the nature of the partnership, institutional relations, scope and approach of the Langrug upgrade programme. The study concludes that the Langrug upgrade programme depicts a typical coproduction arrangement where many institutions are collaborating to improve the living conditions of the urban poor in Langrug. Further, the study establishes that the success of this partnership depends on on-going effective management of power and institutional dynamics and low-level conflicts. The study recommends that the Slum Dwellers International (SDI) alliance needs to build stronger grassroots structures in Stellenbosch to increase local capacity in community mobilisation and advocacy. Besides the need to incorporate the media, the partnership must improve the communication system among partners and stakeholders to avoid mistrust and ensure productive state-society engagement. Finally, more comparative case research needs to be done to consolidate arguments on the concept of coproduction vis-à-vis planning practice in the global South