In the public interest? A critical examination of professional planners in an executive-led government

Abstract

Reports the findings of a survey, involving 59 professional urban planners, which examined how urban planners working within Hong Kong's Special Administrative Region regime perceive their role in the planning process, what they believe constitutes the 'public interest' and how receptive they are to civilian participation in the planning process and inputs from citizens' political representatives. Describes the planning environment in Hong Kong, characterized as 'administrative authoritarianism' (Chui, 1996) in which an executive-led administration has overwhelming authority over the legislature and therefore considerable power over urban planning; discusses the statutory and administrative mechanisms which give the government supremacy in the planning process; and points out that the extent of civilian participation is extremely limited, leaving the government to interpret and act on the 'public interest'. Offers an appraisal of the socio-economic and political context in which urban planners operate and concludes that as civil society becomes more articulate and more demanding of a role in identifying the public interest, government planners must rethink their own interpretation of the public interest.