On the Liberal Moral Project of Planning in South Africa

Abstract

In a recent publication on ‘Cityness and African Urban Development’, Edgar Pieterse calls for a suspension of the ‘humanist safety net’ that frequently underpins policy prescriptions in most liberal (and social-liberal) democracies. While I support Pieterse’s call, this paper sets out to demonstrate why it is difficult for most planners to suspend, let alone reject, the ‘liberal moral project of planning’. To this end, the role of planning is reassessed by focusing on some of the entrenched liberal legacies in South Africa. Findings spotlight how mainstream practices are directed towards serving ‘the public interest’ through a liberal calculus of public morality and obligations; and I propose that before planners might begin to engage with Pieterse’s project, we first need to challenge the current norms of planning.