Date of Award
5-1977
Degree Name
Master of Architecture (March)
Degree Type
Thesis
Abstract
This thesis is concerned with the issues of social injustice and suffering and how they might be overcome through social change. The intent is to examine critically the role of urban planning within contemporary society. So that this may be accomplished effectively, the inquiry is not as much concerned with the fundamentals of planning proper, as it is an attempt to understand the processes particular to the social order, with special scrutiny to the relationship between science, technology, and the economic system. This focus of study is necessary in order to become more acquainted with the nature of the institutional or der, within which the institution of planning exists and through which it manifests its general form and province. The thesis addresses the phenomenon of centralization and bureaucratization. It argues that the centralization of authority and decision-making power enveloping society today has fostered a situation whereby planners most often reflect the prescriptions and interests of the central decision-makers of governments and business, such that citizen participation in the process of decision-making is negligible. Consequently a form of social exclusion is taking place whereby people are divorced from the formulation of social policy. Planners perpetuate this exclusion and thus perpetuate social injustice.
Language
English (en)
Chair and Committee
Frants Albert, Gerry Gutenschwager, Richard Ratcliff, Hanno Weber