From Rational Planning to Communicative Planning: Exploring the Roles of Responsible Planners in Beijing

Lei Zhang, Jinghui Lu, Xiaodong Shi and Lu Liao

Journal of the American Planning Association, 2025, vol. 91, issue 2, 256-270

Abstract: Problem, research strategy, and findingsThirty-two of China’s largest cities have implemented community planner policies. Scholars have debated whether these initiatives have accelerated China’s urban planning system transition from more rational to communicative planning. Through a survey and 23 interviews, we investigated the role tendencies and motivators of a typical example of community planners, known in Beijing as responsible planners. We developed a typology delineating three roles of responsible planners: technical expert, advocate planner, and communicative planner. Results suggest that responsible planners frequently play hybrid roles, yet they exhibit a limited understanding of their role as communicative planners. Graduate planning education in China has tended to stereotype responsible planners as technical experts. Institutional design requiring public participation reduces reliance on technical experts. Responsible planners’ understanding their roles differ significantly from planning practices in North America. The qualitative interviews further illuminated these differences and unraveled the complex motivators in responsible planners’ role choices within the Chinese context.Takeaway for practicePlanning authorities and educators should highlight policies advocating for public participation, graduate planning education emphasizing social planning, and continuing professional education featuring tutorials and knowledge sharing to facilitate a communicative turn in urban planning. This approach will empower planners to better serve residents.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1080/01944363.2024.2370897

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