ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the ways planning can become an instrument of power and domination. Planning should accomplish its ‘rationalizing’ mission so often hindered by the interference of corrupt politicians. In their dreams, the planning mission should be the driving force for steering urban development according to the canons of technical rationality. Planning is a democratic enterprise, a free and open encounter with a variety of discourses, where arguments, proposals, and justifications are all embraced equally, rigorously discussed, and freely considered or dismissed. Planning would also be a comprehensive enterprise, which presupposed an articulated analysis and a competent set of propositions directed at producing results over the long term. The planning process at the local level starts while the executive branches of the administration are implemented in the city districts. The local planning, in contrast to central strategic planning, is designed to involve local residents from the beginning.
