Trust and Governance in Regional Planning

What is it about?

Planning systems have been increasingly distrusted by the public. This paper explores how trust has been built in the particularly contested world of regional planning through using two case studies - one in England, the other in Denmark. Two mechanisms for building trust were used: (1) increasing the predictability of planning processes, (2) increasing collaboration between actors. It concludes that to build trust we need a third approach: to argue for the fundamental value of planning

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Why is it important?

The paper develops a novel approach to understanding trust that situates it within broader debates about governmental legitimacy. It reveals that 'traditional' mechanisms to build trust are prone to failure as they concentrate on enhancing governance processes whilst simultaneously failing to engage with broader questions of value in government