Speakers
Description
The planning project has always been perceived as values-driven as result of the profession’s claimed ability to act in the Public Interest. Ethical matters have received significant scholarly attention and are enshrined in codes of practice such as professional charters. Yet, in countries such as the UK, the modus operandi of planning has changed profoundly in the last decade. Research shows many planning functions are now carried out by private sector professionals, raising important ethical questions. The business of development has also changed significantly, becoming more complex and, relatedly we argue, more overtly values-driven. Regulation is a key driver of this shift. Developers are now required to comply with a wide range of environmental standards, many of which sit within the increasingly complex planning system. Our research with regeneration and development practitioners since 2017 has shed critical light on development professionals’ relationship with these regulatory requirements and how they relate to corporate - and personal - values. For instance, many professionals are engaging in agendas such as Social Value that go above and beyond ‘minimum standards’. These stories further complicate the picture around the ethics and values that lie at the heart of planning for development in the UK today.
| Keywords | Development; Regeneration; Ethics; Planning; Values |
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