Producing and Contesting Meanings of Participation in Planning

The Case of Singapore (1985–2020)

Bibliographic Data

ID6404425
AuthorsJan H M Lim (0000-0002-0311-9811, KU Leuven), Angeliki Paidakaki (0000-0001-5019-0998, KU Leuven), Han Verschure (0000-0001-8518-7393, KU Leuven), Pieter Van Den Broeck (0000-0002-3388-0759, KU Leuven)
Year2023
Volume59
Issue6
Pages1775-1808
Publication date2023-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueUrban Affairs Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1078-0874 • E-ISSN: 1552-8332
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/10780874221130530
OpenAlexW4303986713
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited61

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

Agency (philosophy · Citizen journalism · Civil society · Context (archaeology · Corporate governance · Economic growth · Economics · Government (linguistics · Management · Participatory planning · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Social science · Sociology · State (computer science · Law · Public Administration · Socioeconomic Development in Asia · Urban Planning and Governance