From chaotic construction to coevolution: Tbilisi’s 2019 master plan and the right to the city

Abstract

ABSTRACT A cautious revival for planning is emerging in some post-socialist cities including Tbilisi, Georgia – a response to diminished quality of life after decades of “investor urbanism” policies. Tbilisi’s 2019 Master Plan takes a pragmatic approach to the right to the city – emphasizing human rights to urban mobility and green space but in cooperation with market processes and detached from ideological narrative. The adoption and implementation of Tbilisi’s plan has the potential to yield a coevolution of local governance institutions, now oriented for the first time since independence to administer long-term urban policy. While full implementation of the plan vision will likely be limited by existent processes of state capture, the plan offers a promising new framework for urban governance and the social function of urban space. Although Georgia exhibits troubling signs of democratic backsliding, Tbilisi’s plan asserts alignment with international best practices including European Union accession criteria – thus serving as a potent geopolitical tool.