The locality of boundary practices

Abstract

The increasing amount of multiple actors and interests has increased the unpredictability, volatility and uncertainty of participatory planning processes. This chapter discusses the potentiality and usability of the concepts of boundary interaction boundary organisation and trading zones in the context of planning. In addition, two participatory planning cases from Finland, Tampere, are examined from the perspective of emerging situational boundary practices. Looking at the interaction of multiple actors from this angle emphasises the role of local knowledge and the social relationships that affect land-use management and planning. The chapter offers some support for the notion that these concepts have the potential to facilitate linkages between different actor groups and divergent social worlds. The temporal and situational arrangements are highlighted, as it is in the particular context in which issues are opened up to the public and possibilities to boundary interaction outside traditional municipal institutional settings either appear or don’t.