Philip Harrison, Alison Todes and Vanessa Watson 2008: Planning and Transformation: Learning from the Post-Apartheid Experience. London: Routledge

摘要

This book seeks to answer a good question: What can we - both inside and outside South Africa - learn from the post-apartheid South African experience of using planning in order to unravel the apartheid legacies of segregated and unequal cities, on the one hand, and severe regional inequalities, on the other? As the authors emphasize, this question is especially important because of factors such as the role of planning in the apartheid project and the value of using experiences from the global South to challenge 'international' planning literatures that are rooted in the experiences of the global North (and may reflect specifically 'Western' values). The book is appropriately designed. With respect to South Africa, it provides some context, discusses aspects of governance, dissects the key discourses that have framed debates over post-apartheid planning, and interrogates aspects of the relationship between planning and society - all the while paying attention to international literatures and debates. And the authors bring to their task immense expertise in urban and regional planning. The bibliography not only includes at least 48 publications authored or co-authored by one or other of the three authors, but the authors themselves were also personally involved in many of the debates and reforms discussed in the book. The ambition and promise of the book are thus truly exciting.