ABSTRACT
The collaborative planning model was developed, and largely applied in the Western English-speaking world but it assumes much about political cultures, institutional capacities and policy styles to operate via a vocabulary in which the 'power of the better argument' would produce consensual planning outcomes. J. Hillier has offered an alternative agenda for planning practice based on the notion of agonism and the healthy political effects of discord in communities attempting to resist the consequences of global and industrial change. The value of collaborative planning, when linked with an appreciation for Equity, diversity and interdependence (EDI), is that it can help to expose the nature of several contexts, identify where alliances are possible and envision how fragile connections might be supported and ultimately strengthened through dialogue and trust. EDI are terms, concepts and aspirations. They are lenses to help interpret society, both rural and urban. They provide the potential for discourse to help achieve sustainable communities.
