Political judgement and learning about value in transportation planning: Bridging Habermas and Aristotle

Abstract

This chapter explores the political judgement that planners need to learn about value in the always political world of their daily practice. It considers a brief account of a metropolitan transportation planner's work in the USA; they confront immediately the inherently ethical, value-ambiguous character of planning practice. The chapter explores the challenges and strategies of learning on the job that planners often face as they manage inter-agency working meetings. It suggests that issues of power are ever-present. In the face of power, planners must improvise sensitively and imaginatively, changing objectives, discovering and responding to novel problems, adjusting their priorities and efforts accordingly. The chapter concludes by drawing more general implications: practical political judgement in planning must address ends as well as means, public deliberation as well as personal strategy, the recognition of value as well as the justification of action.

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