Conceptualizing the Co-Existence of Formal and Informal
Institutions Within Planning
Hazem Abu-Orf
Faculty of Applied Engineering and Urban Planning, University of Palestine, Gaza, PalestineThe background to this study is addressing how formal and informal institutions might intersect in planning. This
article has at its aim addressing not only the effects that formal and/or informal institutions have but also how both shape each
other. In fulfilling this aim, analysis in this study adopts qualitative research methods, including qualitative interviewing, direct
observation and archival records, which are applied to the Nicosia Master Plan that is considered in this study as a particular
case study because it arguably helps this study to fulfill its aims. The perspective of formal/informal ‘dialectics’, marked by a
‘mutual-shaping’ exercise, is applied to this case study. Its application reveals several arguments as follow. First, formal
institutions are found in this study to be blocked from mobilizing any development, however, remain the key determinant. The
second argument concerns informal institutions that have been found to adopt strategies capable of mobilizing development,
nevertheless, these strategies could not obviate the central role of formal institutions. Thirdly, formal institutions formalize
informal institutions by ‘absorbing’ the latter into their hierarchy while equally denying any degree of autonomy, nor a role
assigned, to informal institutions. Altogether, the findings revealed in this study stress the importance of the political and
economic contexts of power that are key to how the formal/informal ‘dialectics’ occur.University of Palestine, www.up.edu.p
