ABSTRACT
This chapter explores ideas related to spatial justice, aesthetic justice and how democratically infused planning and design of communities together with creative practices can shape communities to which more people of diverse backgrounds can feel a sense of connection. It looks at the inclusion of local knowledge and everyday lived experiences in planning and how they manifest through aesthetic choices and built forms. Promising work in the design profession centers around participatory design as a means of gaining from and instilling practices of democracy. Adopting collaborative approaches to emphasize ways of thinking and acting, city planners encourage discussion of the qualities of places and address conflicts in nonthreatening ways. Building on practices of grassroots democracy, which is part of their everyday work, city planners, like all other public sector workers, have a responsibility to be guardians of democracy.
