Land-use Planning and Traveller-Gypsies: Towards Non-prejudicial Practice

摘要

Respect for equality and racial diversity are accepted as key tenets to sound contemporary planning practice (for example, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister [ODPM], 2005a1; Royal Town Planning Institute [RTPI], 2007b). This is supported by a body of normative work extolling the virtues of a pluralist approach to planning the built environment (for example, Young, 1990; Sandercock, 1998; Thomas, 2000). However, this aspiration is undermined by those who point out the potential of the planning system to serve as a mechanism for exclusion and social control (for example, Yiftachel, 1995; Thomas & Krishnarayan, 1994), with such insights having some grounding in surveys of planning practice in a variety of contexts (for example, Quadeer, 1997; Loftman & Beazley, 1998; Ellis, 2001; Thompson, 2003; Harwood, 2005). Thus, despite a general policy commitment to accommodating difference, examples of general exclusion and specific discrimination appear to be common. This paper explores how Traveller-Gypsies, amongst the most marginalized and deprived sections of society in Britain and Ireland (Kenrick & Bakewell, 1995; Hawes & Perez, 1996; Donahue et al., 2003; Cemlyn & Clark, 2005), are accommodated within the UK planning system. The socio-economic position and standard of living of Traveller-Gypsies is heavily influenced by their ability to secure good quality sites for their specific accommodation needs, predominantly in caravans. This means that, like a number of other groups (for example, Lane, 2006), the planning system is one of the most important factors that determine Traveller-Gypsies' socio-economic standing and exclusionary status.