Introduction

Political philosophies and practices of ‘localism’ can lead to both progressive and regressive outcomes (Davoudi and Madanipour, 2013; Madanipour and Davoudi, 2015). This chapter discusses whether neighbourhood planning has the potential to bring about more inclusive forms of public participation in, and engagement with, planning (and thus potentially more progressive and socially equitable forms of urban development), or, on the contrary, to stir up social conflict. The social and spatial imaginary that underpins parish and neighbourhood planning entails the idea of a relatively homogeneous, stable, identifiable and self-conscious ‘local community’ that possesses a sense of neighbourhood belonging and attachment and a set of common interests in relation to a defined place. It requires the capacity for local actors to mobilise collectively, to overcome individual and group differences, and to articulate a consensual vision for the future of that place. The innovation of neighbourhood planning is thus to ‘vest plan-making in a notionally autonomous locally constituted body, and address residents as a collective identity rather than an amorphous and individually imagined public’ (Bradley, 2015, p 103). Neighbourhood planning ‘assumes a latent willingness and capacity within local communities to engage in plan-making and/or that these capacities can be developed’ (Gunn et al, 2015, p 147). Yet, these assumptions cannot be taken for granted, in particular, in towns and cities with a very diverse population in ethnic, class and socio-economic terms.

The opportunity to engage in neighbourhood planning had been taken up by 1,500 groups across England between April 2012 and July 2015. Notwithstanding the Conservative ideological roots of neighbourhood planning in the English context, which have left many Left-leaning scholars sceptical and dismissive about its potential, neighbourhood planning is an innovation in public policy that potentially opens up new possibilities for public engagement in planning and thus warrants careful monitoring and evaluation. In theory, through the production of a neighbourhood plan, ‘communities’ are: