Producing and Contesting Meanings of Participation in Planning: The Case of Singapore (1985–2020)

This paper examines how the concept of participation in planning has been constructed by state and nonstate actors in the politico-institutional context of Singapore. Our objective is to gain a deeper understanding of the political dynamics shaping ideas about participation, and the impact of these...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Urban affairs review (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) Calif.), 2023-11, Vol.59 (6), p.1775-1808
Main Authors: Lim, Jan H. M., Paidakaki, Angeliki, Verschure, Han, Van den Broeck, Pieter
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Activism
Building management
Citizen participation
Civil society
Coalition formation
Coalitions
Construction planning
Democratization
Documents
Economic development
Economic growth
Governance
Meaning
Nation building
National planning
National plans
Participation
Periodicals
Perpetuation
Political development
Political economy
Political power
Politics
Urban planning
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This paper examines how the concept of participation in planning has been constructed by state and nonstate actors in the politico-institutional context of Singapore. Our objective is to gain a deeper understanding of the political dynamics shaping ideas about participation, and the impact of these contested constructions on the perpetuation of the ruling party's political control. Drawing on strategic-relational institutionalist planning and cultural political economy theories, we analyze 312 documents including government and civil society periodicals, parliamentary debates, and academic publications, focusing on the planning and participatory practices of Singapore's national planning agency from the mid-1980s to 2020. The findings reveal that state-led coalitions continuously reframed participation as an instrument of economic growth, nation-building, and activism-management, while nonstate-led coalitions emerged to transform state-civil society relations through promoting and materializing alternative meanings of participation. These dynamics demonstrate the potentialities and limitations of democratizing urban planning and governance in Singapore's hybrid regime.
ISSN:1078-0874
1552-8332
DOI:10.1177/10780874221130530