Current Research

This dissertation evaluates the impact of equality on the planning system in Northern Ireland and whether this has added value, in material terms to social justice and inclusivity within the region. The research theoretically tests the efficacy of collaborative planning in a divided community and draws on critical narratives based on more agonistic practice. However, the case study research reveals that a lack of trust, civic identity and communicative action is at the heart of the failure to translate equality rhetoric into practice. The thesis argues that we should not dismiss collaborative planning so readily and that the development of skills, knowledge and practice are at the heart of making it work more effectively. In a divided society struggling to deliver policy, there is little option than to collaborate and resist the pull of further contestation in an already well divided built environment.

Supervisors Dr. Brendan Murtagh & Dr. Michael Murray