Teaching spatial justice: Four exercises on communicative rationality & justice

This chapter investigates why a focus on justice should be included in planning and design education. The central argument, based on the ideas of moral philosopher Alasdair McIntyre, is that justice is a 'internal and necessary good' for the successful practise of spatial planning, without which it is meaningless. It contends that spatial planning can be publicly justified only if it produces (perceived) just outcomes using (perceived) just procedures. It challenges the notion that justice is solely a subjective feeling, arguing that various justice claims must be resolved through public communicative exercises, of which spatial planning is but one manifestation. Although competing justice claims are frequently legitimate in and of themselves, they must be contrasted and evaluated against each other in context in order for justice claims to be appraised and some sort of agreed justice to be reached, albeit in imperfect ways, to ensure policy legitimacy, sustainability, and adherence. This chapter suggests four exercises to address communicative rationality and competing justice claims in the classroom, inviting students to argue their way through those claims from a variety of different perspectives.