Planning and the Public Interest. A Critical Review

Abstract

From an ethical perspective, the biggest difficulty for planners is to take the best approach in responding to the decision makers and in acting in the public interest because it always becomes subject of pressures arising with the governmental change, on the one hand, and the societal change on the other hand. Even though many debates arise regarding its existence, for planners, as well as for the planning profession, the public interest has always been legitimizing principles as a norm of practice (Alexander, 2002). The paper critically analyses the planning activity in relation to the public interest and highlights the importance of reciprocity between the two. In order to analyse this issue, the article starts with the presentation of different perspectives regarding the public interest, touching upon its conceptual meaning which is followed by a historical review of its origins and transformation. The third section presents its contextual meaning, its representatives, and the change of its content starting from the 19th century until nowadays and discusses the planners’ ability to represent it. The final part comprises the conclusions that indicate that the planning activity should serve the public interest and, by that, it would serve also the interest of planning as a profession. It emphasises two important issues of the present days: the definition of the public interest and the rational decision making within the planning process.

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