How can you ensure social justice in urban planning evaluations?

Cities belong to their citizens. Social justice is secured when all citizens have equal access to a city’s resources - education, jobs, healthcare, parks, fresh air, and transport. Social justice is a constant cause - as cities change, the geography of injustice changes too. Left unchecked, urban injustice can strangle urban growth. Gentrification can price workers out of areas close to jobs and amenities, undermining the productivity and and opportunity that inspired urban growth to begin with.

In my view, to achieve social justice for citizens in urban planning is more than just ensuring no one is left worse off in the place making process. It must also be capable of redressing any prevailing structural inequalities while providing everyone whom the plan intends an equitable access to public good, housing that’s affordable, open space, urban amenities such as libraries and meeting places that met their diverse needs. As a case study of interest, I am carefully watching how the Mirvac -John Holland’s Waterloo precinct addresses social justice concerns beyond brochure-ware, announcements, and ribbon cutting. I just hope that Waterloo has learnt lessons from the gentrification of the nearby Zetland/Greensquare precincts.

Cities and decisions should be made by the people first before any money or any handshakes this oust residence quickly this should banned . This is quick method that loses respect for inner cities through the lens of residence. On the other hand , Social justice and urban planning give locals the tools with the same cash flow as if they are outsiders coming to save them and clearly you are only looking for an interest in making a profit in the community. So to ensure it is to make sure local government has a relationship with the people first it can a group of residence to have a say in moving foward.

some important things to look at with urban planning are equality, inclusion and providing resources that are usable to all age groups. health care equality, housing and social security benefits equality and inclusion. lastly diversity is the biggest.

Why not letting communities define what they consider social justice to be? After all, it could have different meaning for different communities. Let the community identified social goals to be achieved by planning process. Planning process needs to be goal, performance orientated. Let the community identify the goals that need to be achieved. Yes, that would require active participation of citizens as members of community. But, that is what makes successful community - engaged members, people who care for each other and their surrounding.

Building on the need for mixed methods, measurement (and representative data) needs to make space for place-led storytelling. All to often from region to region, we create complex rigid processes from BCRs to TOMs to track and value social justice (equity/ value). We monetise it, and hand to consultants / experts to analyse based on proxies. In doing so, we distance our accountability to it. If we can’t - at all levels - articulate the social justice being actioned at the very non/ human level, the grass roots or indeed traction made across interdependent systems, then we have no mechanism to replicate the setting; or where it didn’t result in desired intervention, learning from its failing.

As Cara Wood rightfully points out - methods are many and for different communities different methods could be appropriate. Therefore, local community, grass-root stakeholders need to be those that will determine measurable goals for their environment. Experts are there to guide them, advise. Industry experts about available technologies and real life costs and Research experts on making it future-proof, flexible and viable for future generations. Collaborative planning is the key. Collaboration between communities, research and the industry. Planning is also continual process that turns into governance. Citizen's assemblies (or juries) based on democratic sortition process would ensure equal opportunity - social justice.

Communities have to be organized on local levels, neighborhoods, villages to be key stakeholders. And they have to be constantly engaged in process of creating goals, directions but also monitoring outcomes, impacts on their community. Different kind of engagements for different situations would be developed. But the key is true democratic process based on ancient principle of sortition - citizen's assembly where people are randomly selected and have a duty of participation.

Community, their citizen's assembly, would need access to expert guidance, in order to achieve not only ethical standards, but economic and environmental. Those standards would need to be made future-proof - equitable towards future generations, not only current stakeholders.

The recent spruiking of mobility solutions is in direct conflict with accessibility for all citizens and in recognising that ultimately we should not be encouraging fast and efficient travel but rather accommodating the need for citizens to travel (for their amenity). Without the protection of local neighbourhoods from the through-trip onslaught the movement and place principles will be hard to achieve on many streets and roads.