Social Cohesion and Economic Justice: A Justification for Public-Sector Planning

Abstract

The current political context within the United States is imbued with fragmented and privatized conceptions of social good. Everyday Americans disagree about what is best for urban and rural communities, and they disagree about how government should interact with the environments in which people live, work, and play. These particularly postmodernist conditions challenge the relevance and need for public-sector urban planning. A justification for public-sector planning relies on a socially cohesive attitude toward social good, and economic justice may serve as a normative guide. Such a justification demands that planners assert themselves as specialized agents who are best equipped to achieve economic justice in the built environment, for they structurally and technically possess a unique ability to pair substantive expertise with community engagement — technical rationale with empathy — to inform policy and broad planning actions.