Planning as Control - Cultural and Gendered Manipulation and Mis-use of Knowledge

Abstract

This article discusses the different meanings of knowledge as expressions of gendered power relations in spatial planning. In Israel, planning procedures are very centralist giving very little attention to citizen participation in these procedures. The planning process is professional, on the whole, with the planner’s ‘professional ’ knowledge as the main generator. This situation creates three channels of what is referred to in the article as mis-use of knowledge. The professional mis-use of knowledge relates to the professional level of language used in plans and other documents, excluding 'ordinary ’ citizens from understanding and becoming involved in the process. The gendered mis-use of knowledge relates to the knowledge of the gendered spatial power relations which are significantly relevant to the planning process. The symbolic mis-use of knowledge relates to the ignorance of planners towards the symbolic meanings of spaces, usually on a gendered basis, which leads to inappropriate plans that do not meet the needs of men and women in certain societies and cultures.