ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the views of those who hold that society is typically composed – and only composed – of different interest groups, who have drawn the conclusion that there can be no over-arching general or public interest in society. It provides a coherent and non-partisan account of the public interest, and to demonstrate the relevance of this to environmental planning. The conception of the public interest described in the previous section holds that there are some interests whom all persons share in common, and that it is precisely these common interests which constitute the public interest. There is a conception which sees the public interest as an aggregation or 'sum' of the interests of all the relevant individuals in the public. The chapter concludes by indicating the importance of the idea of the public interest in thinking about environmental issues and planning.
