a critical evaluation on the concept of justice in planning process

questions, of which the answers are searched for, are identified in this purpose as given
in the following:
Assumption: 1. There can be no stated single definition of justice as accepted
commonly by all. In definitions, different regulations are proposed giving priority
sometimes to liberty or equality and other times interests and rights. This causes justice
to be expressed as rather an individual preference or activity than those measures which
can be used.
The questions to be answered in this respect appear as mentioned below:
What is justice? Is there any single definition of justice reached by consensus of
all and any criteria determined in line with this definition? What are the ways of
questioning justice with the concepts upon which different theories of justice are based?
In concepts of justice, can there be any superiority of one upon the other? Is it possible
for a definition reached by consensus? In planning discipline, what can be the definition
to be used and the criteria included within this definition? What kind of opportunities do
the Rawlsian justice present within the discipline of planning?
Assumption: 2. In current Turkish planning practice, there can be no single definition
of justice stated. Definitions and demands vary by events, circumstances and perception
of actors. In this sense, it is possible to speak of competing demands of justice
represented by competing interests. Within such differences, there also emerge different
demands accompanied by different assents of justice within the process of planning
where each demand determines space and the planning process to the extent of the
power of arguments as much as their affectivity in regulation mechanism.
The questions to be answered in this respect appear as mentioned below:
How is a just process defined by adjudication bodies and governments in the
legal system; individuals within the informal process and planners are the
representatives of the prevailing paradigm in planning discipline? How is justice
considered within the planning discipline and the adjudication process? What is the
position of adjudication control within the practice of urban planning discipline
developed within the framework defined by Turkish positive law? What kind of
disputes do the cases of lawsuit represent within the adjudication process? When these
disputes are taken as some questioning of “justice”, what kind of areas of dispute,
claims and results are revealed?
7