ABSTRACT
This chapter presents some examples of normally invisible or unrecorded interactions between people, one of whom is a planner or equivalent public official. It then makes some suggestions' about the dimensions of a 'people-sensitive' planning which incorporates an appreciation of such communications. That planning, as an idea and practice, should belong to citizens is a long-standing ideal within the planning tradition. By the 1970s, the rediscovery of the political nature of planning merged with the realisation that citizens, especially in more affluent societies, have a plurality of interests. A people-sensitive planning involves explicit attention to the way knowledge, ideas, and values are conveyed in interactive relationships. Once citizens, whether as 'business' or 'community' become involved in policy-making and in policy implementation, planning work comes out of the studio and the technical office and becomes increasingly discursive in its practices. A people-sensitive planning will be fostered where planners see themselves as providing a service to citizens, and the economy.
