Performing planning: understanding community participation in planning through theatre

Greater public participation in planning has long been a goal for planning professionals. In practice what often takes place is the dreaded ‘community consultation’ process. There is often a gulf between a community’s enthusiasm and creativity on the one hand and the strictures of the statutory planning process on the other. This article reports on a performance-based project which explored issues of representation and legitimacy in participatory planning. The use of theatre to investigate participatory planning has proved to be a powerful tool which has sparked enthusiasm, interest and imagination.