Little BIG glossary of urban planning
/ guide
Participants in the planning, interests and responsibility
Conflicts and responsibilities
All the representatives of the state / government have a task to implement the adopted strategies, obey the law and protect the public interest. However, defining the public interest is not a simple or unequivocal matter, as it allows possibilities not only of misjudgment, but also of manipulation and concealing the current needs or partial interests behind the proclaimed common good.
Accordingly, as it involves different perspectives and roles, the planning process often confronts opposing positions – contradictory actions of the state, local government and professional institutions with the citizens. A cause of the conflict may also concern the investor. Like all the other participants in the planning, the investors promote and protect their own interests. Implementation of the law, sanctions against its violation, and prevention of illegal activities in the planning process, are all responsibilities of the state institutions. In the process of urban planning, for misconduct on the part of the owners of capital, responsibility rests with the state authorities and administration.
For the unwanted results of unplanned construction, usurpation of public land, poor allocation of use, negative effects on the environment, irreparable damage to the monuments and heritage etc. responsibility always rests with those in charge of implementation of the regulations – state administration and its institutions.
Zbog toga, različitih perspektiva i uloga, u procesu planiranja neretko dolazi do nejedinstvenih stavova, do suprotstavljenog delovanja državne, lokalne uprave i stručnih institucija, i građana. Uzrok konflikta je često usmeren i u pravcu investitora. Kao i svi drugi učesnici u planiranju, i investitori promovišu i štite sopstveni interes. Za sprovođenje zakona i sankcionisanje njegovog kršenja, za sprečavanje nedozvoljenih aktivnosti u procesu planiranja, zadužene su institucije države. Za neodgovarajuće ponašanje vlasnika kapitala u procesu urbanističkog planiranja, odgovornost je na nosiocima vlasti i upravi.
Za negativne posledice u prostoru, poput besplanske gradnje, uzurpacije javnog zemljišta, loše distribucije namena, posledice po životnu sredinu, nepopravljive štete na spomeničkom nasleđu i drugo, odgovornost je uvek na onima koji treba da sprovode pravila – državnoj upravi i njenim institucijama.
The legally guaranteed openness of the urban planning process implies that the public is well informed on the planning proposal and encouraged to make suggestions and objections concerning that matter.
„The public“ does not exist as a separate, homogenous entity.
The recent period in Serbia has seen increasing engagement of the citizens and civil sector in urban planning issues pertaining to protection of public goods. However, perhaps more than in any other category of participants in the planning process, there are different groups within the general public with interests which may be fundamentally and irreconcilably opposed. Even if they share a starting point, which is the citizens’ well-being, interests of the citizens and organizations may differ. They may also be confronted with the interests from other categories (politics, capital) and differently interpreted public interest. Accordingly, the process of reaching a common agreement in planning is crucially important. It is dependent upon the extent and method of inclusion of the public in the planning process at all levels.