a critical evaluation on the concept of justice in planning process

principles in his theory of justice (as fairness) and the regulation of “territorial social
justice” Harvey has proposed for a liberal society in “just distribution justly arrived at”,
are as follows:
“1. The distribution of income should be such that (a) the needs of population within
each territory are met, (b) resources are so allocated to maximize interterritorial
multiplier effects, and (c) extra resources are allocated to help overcome special
difficulties stemming from the physical and social environment.
2. The mechanisms (institutional, organizational, political and economic) should be
such that the prospects of the least advantaged territory are as great as they possibly
can be.
If these conditions are fulfilled there will be a just distribution justly arrived at” 33
(Harvey;1993;116-117).
Similar debates in field of the planning discipline has commenced in the post-
1960 period. According to the prevailing paradigm of the 1960s, the fundamental
approaches of planning are given in words of Krumholz as follows:
“1. city planning apolitical instead of serving a narrow political objective, served “the
public interest” or the community as a whole, 2. a unitary plan prepared by a public
agency was adequate to express the interest of the entire community, 3. city planning
was the planning of land uses which, if articully done, with attention to green space and
close proximity of linked activities, would improve the quality of city life”(Krumholz,
1994,150). In this approach, the debates of justice and equality are kept distant from the
field of planning discipline.
On basis of this approach, how will planners approach the lived inequalities?
Should the levels of inequality (in terms of both the social inequalities and inequality in
distribution of urban facilities), polarizations and territories of poverty, all experienced
by cities of our day be a matter of debate for the planning discipline and planners?
Concerning what the attitude of a planner shall be in this subject matter, Davidoff has
declared his opinions in 1978 as in the following:
“If a planner is not working directly for the objective of eradicating poverty and radical
and sexual discrimination, then she or he is counter-productive. If the work is not
33 Following the political economy critiques of urban inequalities he has realized from a Rawlsian
perspective during the first period, Harvey re-evaluates the problem of urban justice from a poststructuralist
perspective. In this perspective pursuing Young, he evaluates in cultural terms the debate on
justice for livable cities. Although he concentrates on justice principles of Young’s approach and does not
abandon the distributional principles, he sets forth the cultural values. With regard to how a just planning
and policy implementation should be, he determines six aspects of justice.
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