Profit or public service? Tensions and alignment in private planning practice

Sturzaker, John; Hickman, Hannah

Abstract

The growth of employment opportunities for planners working in the private sector has resulted in a rapid change in the composition of the planning profession in the UK, with over 40% of Royal Town Planning Institute members now employed in private practice. Existing writing on private planning practice is somewhat circumspect, with the private sector being associated largely with a profit-driven approach. Drawing on interviews with private sector planners, this paper argues that this fails to reflect the lived reality of private sector planners, and in so doing sets out an alternative and more nuanced characterisation of private practice.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 14, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Feb 22, 2023
• Publication Date: 2024
• Deposit Date: Feb 23, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 11, 2024
• Journal: Planning Practice and Research
• Print ISSN: 0269-7459
• Electronic ISSN: 1360-0583
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 39
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 339-354
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02697459.2023.2182027
• Keywords: Ethics; practice; private sector; public interest
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/10475053
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/02697459.2023.2182027