PLANNING FOR A SUSTAINABLE EUROPE? - TU Berlin

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theory (Innes 1995) and a potential one for transport planning (Willson 2001), although
Muller (1998) and Taylor (1999) rightfully question the applicability of the term in this
context. Willson (2001:2) states that “the global aim of communicative rationality is to
create a rational basis for constructing ends and means in a democratic society, by
enriching public and political discourse.” In pursuing this aim, however, the
communicative approach is often selective in its application of Habermasian theory. At
its core lies a notion of reason that is historically situated and created through intersubjective
mutual understanding. Communicative theorists aim to establish knowledge
claims through processes of argumentation that are interactively carried forward by a
given set of people at a given time and place, thus creating a system that is not (or at least
considerably less) dependent on validation from “experts” or other outside influences.
Within these processes, planners are to become mediators among stakeholders, rather
than stakeholders themselves. (Note that the respective role of a bureaucrat or policymaker
is less clear). According to Healey (1997:29), the central tenets of the
communicative model are its inherent social constructivist understanding of knowledge,
its focus on social interaction, its openness towards alternative forms of knowledge and
reasoning (e.g. storytelling, subjective statements), and finally, its call for public policy to
constitute itself by drawing upon and making available a wide range of knowledge and
reasoning from different sources. 31
As an analytic method for studying planning and policy processes, the
communicative rationality framework no doubt deserves credit for contributing many
31 Note that although they are supposedly rooted in Habermasian discourse theory, i.e. a theory still
working within the Enlightenment tradition, the tenets which Healy identifies are, of course, fully
congruent with postmodern ideals of knowledge-seeking. Consequently, the “communicative turn” in
planning is regarded by many primarily as a post-modernizing, rather than a re-modernizing trend.