Housing development, land values and the decentred state: Traditions and dilemmas in House of Commons planning debates

Abstract

The paper examines the narratives and traditions that converged in the debates that raged in the House of Commons in response to the UK government’s controversial proposals for planning reform in 2020. Using decentred theory, it is argued that planning is essentially decentred in that it has no essence, no fixed core beyond a general concern with the relationships between town and country, central and local government, economic development and the environment, private property and community, individual freedom and state power. This means that English planning comprises a web of contradictory traditions that can be articulated in service of various agendas. The analysis explores how the traditions in planning were interpreted through and reframed by various ideological traditions in the Conservative Party to legitimise different arguments concerning the desirability, or otherwise, of housebuilding and how planning should govern new housing development.