a critical evaluation on the concept of justice in planning process

concepts is the society’s structure such as national-cultural differences, level of
economic and social development. (Aybay&Aybay; 2003; 70).
Justice concept that is being used today is the results of liberal, modernist and a
west centralized tradition of last tree centuries. (Özlem; 2000a; 9-23). Justice in modern
times is separated into; law state and institution field, distributional principle in
economic field, democracy and administration in politic field. In economic, social,
cultural processes which are different fields of social life, definition of justice in
independent and different contents prevents a comprehensive aspect. Nevertheless,
these disintegrated processes constitute the integrity that completes each other. (Özlem;
2000b, 29-43).
Although the human relations, the relations of man with others, rights,
responsibilities and duties were given a central place in the concept of justice during the
Modern periods, in recent times, the emphasis has been put more on necessity of a
nature-based justice approach as supported by debates on feminist considerations on the
one hand, and environmentalist movements and debates of sustainability, on the other 10 .
Still however, in the prevailing discourse and paradigm of our day, the definition of
rights; definition of existence; interest; liberty (absolute); and equality concepts are
usually regarded within the framework of humanistic world and human relations.
At final stage arrived; justice depends upon the ethical one as a virtue in
subjective sphere of thinking and behaviors, upon the informal sphere (that is,
conscience and the individual). In sphere of social life on the other hand, it is an idea
and ideal. 11 In other words, whereas it is virtue actively taking part in personal-informal
relations, in impersonal-formal relations and within the formal sphere, the ways,
principles and rules to reach the idea and the ideal are at issue. While the basic idea
upon which the laws in formal sphere and regulation tools of the social structure is
justice, in private sphere it takes place as a “value” (in sphere of individual, conscience
and virtues). Nevertheless, it is manifest that considerations of the formal sphere
inevitably cover and mention justice as virtue and ethics as well. 12 In terms of its
widespread position within the public sphere and social structure, while justice
10
On one hand, while the debates on hypothetical assents, laws regulating the existence of man in human
world (natural-human) and on justice all continue, on the other hand, with the questions as to what nature
and man are and how they exist, the debates are carried up to a new dimension.
11
Çeçen;1993, pp.:17-35; Aybay&Aybay; 2003, pp.:67-70; Akta ;2001, pp.:183-191; zveren;1994;pp.:
34,52,112,134.
12
When considered in legal terms, it appears that the Civil Law addresses to the sphere of ethics and
social values. Relations of ethics and justice are also recognized and considered in law. For further
discussions, see Aybay&Aybay, 2003.
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