Contested Land Use Planning: A Case Study of a Grassroots Neighborhood Organization, a Medical Complex, and a City
Researchers have characterized neighborhood organizations in two ways: as mediating between individuals and broader structures of society, and as restricted in meaningful participation by the city's emphasis on local economic development. Players in this case study offered competing perspectives: the medical complex and city's actions were based in the managerial and pluralist, while the neighborhood organization's claims were communitarian. This case study explores (1) how the setting within which city planners acted was a strong counter to the participation of citizens in the land use planning process, and (2) how the neighborhood organization mediated, engaged participation, nurtured discussion of ethical issues related to the community, and offered residents an opportunity to engage their competing communitarian perspective in planning issues affecting the neighborhood. The adversarial nature of the neighborhood organization's claims provided a sometimes effective counter to the structural limitations of city planning efforts.
Sociology, Social Structure and Development
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign