While planning lacks a formal theory of care, it is still fundamentally a people-centred profession. To an outside observer, the city may seem to be the primary muse of planning, but it is the interests of its residents that planners are concerned with. These interests include the public’s needs and wants for housing, transportation, community amenities and so on. These interests are often manifested as the “public interest”, with the planner as its keeper; a position that is reflected in the professional code of practice (1).
In their exploration of the public interest, planners are thrust into the intersection between the many voices of the public and the voices of expert knowledge (engineers, sociologists, economists…) and of power (politicians). How to navigate these voices and how to frame their relationship to the broader public has been an important inquiry for planners. Over the years planning theorists have constructed several different imaginations of the planner-public relationship. This section will highlight some of the major ones and how they point to elements of care.
In their exploration of the public interest, planners are thrust into the intersection between the many voices of the public and the voices of expert knowledge (engineers, sociologists, economists…) and of power (politicians). How to navigate these voices and how to frame their relationship to the broader public has been an important inquiry for planners. Over the years planning theorists have constructed several different imaginations of the planner-public relationship. This section will highlight some of the major ones and how they point to elements of care.
1. OPPI. (2018). Professional Code of Practice http://ontarioplanners.ca/Knowledge-Centre/Professional-Code-of-Practice