Who plans small towns and how? Multiple Orders of worth in spatial planning at the local level in Sichuan, China
Lisa Melcher
This dissertation maps the process of spatial planning for small towns in Sichuan as it takes place between local politics, public administration, and professional planners. It argues that spatial planning is informed by ideal imaginations and attributions of worthiness, which following Sociology of Conventions, are framed here as orders of worth. Five orders of worth are identified and described: 'Planning as a craft,’ 'planning as regulation and public provision,’ 'planning as a business,’ 'planning for development and growth,' and 'planning for ecology and civilization.' With the involvement of an administrative apparatus and professional planners in the planning process, there are many influences on a spatial plan's contents apart from political negotiation and political strategy. In empirical chapters separate from the analysis, first, a description of the administrative structure and processes of spatial planning argues that politicians and administrative staff constitute separate groups of actors and that an understanding of the workings of the administration is necessary to explain policy decisions and outcomes. Second, an investigation into the planning profession demonstrates that the marketization of spatial planning affords professionals certain independence. This chapter also shows that in the planning profession, analytical capacities and policy consultation are increasingly valued. Data has been obtained through nine months of ethnographic fieldwork in Sichuan.
Laufzeit
2015 - 2021
Finanzierung
Graduate School of East Asian Studies (GEAS)
Betreuung
Prof. Dr. Bettina Gransow-van Treeck
Prof. Dr. Olaf Zenker
Prof. Dr. Elena Meyer-Clement