Unlearning the Coloniality of Planning

Abstract

This research project reimagines planning through a critically reflexive and decolonial perspective. It positions the Western planning tradition within the oppressive structures of coloniality and neoliberalism, shaping the role of planning in the marginalisation of vulnerable communities. Modern planning is largely a product of the Western knowledge system and culture. Through its focus on rational and ‘objective’ knowledge inherently excludes many Indigenous knowledges and the lived experiences of vulnerable citizens. Due to the normalised application and adulation of the Western knowledge system, the colonial inheritance of an unjust built environment, and the increasing domination of neoliberal policy, these dynamics of exclusion remain unchanged.

As the Western planning tradition continuously proves to be unfit to meaningfully address the structural injustices in our built environment and society, because it is situated within the oppressive societal structures that cause these injustices, this thesis explores alternative approaches to planning to create just outcomes, such as humanist urbanism, feminist urbanism, Indigenous knowledges, and traditional planning practices.

This research bridges the gap between theory and practice by continuously connecting decolonial planning theory with the case of Old Fadama, an informal settlement in Accra, Ghana. Through critical reflexivity on the role of the planner and planning methodology, and empirical research in Old Fadama, a decolonial planning meta-methodology is proposed. The meta-methodology centres embodied and experienced knowledge in the planning process, promotes community-led and autonomous planning, and regards critical reflexivity as a key planning activity for Western planners working in non-Western contexts. The research itself is an important body of self-reflexivity and displays the transformation in thinking and acting that is necessary for decolonial planning.

The planning practices and spatial outcomes of Old Fadama are reimagined through this decolonial planning meta-methodology. By viewing Old Fadama as an example of community-led planning and governance rooted in decoloniality, our understanding of urban informality and urban planning can be transformed. The thesis contains a set of radical imagination exercises that visualise possible spatial outcomes of a decolonial planning approach that goes beyond the formal-informal binary and towards a just and decolonial future for Old Fadama.