DR CRYSTAL LEGACY
Associate Professor, Urban Planning, University of Melbourne & Deputy Director of the Informal Urbanism Research Hub.
Dr Crystal Legacy is a Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning at the University of Melbourne where she is also the Deputy Director of the Informal Urbanism Research Hub. As a former recipient of an Australian Research Council (DECRA) Fellowship, Crystal has published widely on the topics of urban transport, strategic planning and urban policy. Her current research examines the governance and policy challenges of planning future urban transport, and the politics of citizen participation in infrastructure planning. Crystal is the inaugural chair of the Progressive Planners Network based in Melbourne and is heavily involved in grassroots based efforts to build greater social, spatial and ecological justice into the planning of future transport systems.
Abstract
Conflict is here: what now for planning?
Conflict is inherent in planning. Yet, considerable effort is taken by planners and decision makers to manage conflict when it arises. The management of conflict takes the place of opportunities to pause, hear and reflect upon what conflict in planning is telling us about the way we plan and the kinds of impacts it has on place and people. One possible way conflict may reveal itself is through the emergence of citizen-driven efforts to plan beyond the formal structures established by the State. By drawing upon research conducted in Australian and Canadian cities on contested transport planning, I will use case studies to argue that conflict and observations of citizen-driven planning are integral to understanding the practice of planning. As cities and regions face uncertain futures marked by climate change, urbanisation and future technological disruptions, planning will need to work with and acquire an understanding of conflict, this includes learning to engage with and even co-produce the future city through citizen-driven planning.
