Supporting mindful planners in a mindless system: limitations to the emotional turn in planning practice

Natalie Osborne; Deanna Grant-Smith

doi:10.3828/tpr.2015.39

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Supporting mindful planners in a mindless system: limitations to the emotional turn in planning practice

Journal article

Peer reviewed

Supporting mindful planners in a mindless system: limitations to the emotional turn in planning practice

Natalie Osborne and Deanna Grant-Smith

Town Planning Review, Vol.86(6), pp.677-698

2015

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3828/tpr.2015.39

Abstract

emotion

emotional geographies

planning

policymaking

ontologies

silencing

other ways of knowing

Despite widespread acknowledgment within planning scholarship that emotion - both present in knowledge and a form of knowledge - is integral to lived experience and the judgement of planners, it is often sidelined within planning practice. The extent to which mainstream planning has been able or willing to accommodate emotions remains constrained and the emotions of planners and the public remain an unacknowledged but pervasive presence. Antonio Ferreira recently highlighted in this journal the importance of attending to emotions at the level of the individual planner through the concept of mindfulness. We argue this approach must be complemented by an acknowledgement of the structural and institutional limitations of including emotions in planning practice. Drawing from the emotional geographies literature to describe a social-spatial conceptualisation of emotion, we highlight ontological and practical tensions associated with the achievement of the 'emotional turn' and advance a more purposeful engagement with emotion in mainstream planning practice.

Details

Title: Supporting mindful planners in a mindless system: limitations to the emotional turn in planning practice
Authors: Natalie Osborne (Author) - Griffith University
Deanna Grant-Smith (Author) - Queensland University of Technology
Publication details: Town Planning Review, Vol.86(6), pp.677-698
Publisher: Liverpool University Press
Date published: 2015
DOI: 10.3828/tpr.2015.39
ISSN: 1478-341X
Organisation Unit: School of Business and Creative Industries
Language: English
Record Identifier: 991016187002621
Output Type: Journal article