Urban planning response to potential conflicts

Different preferences of the type of urban development would then become the acting force on people segregating themselves. ‘Urban region or city or town becomes segregated in every situation, either by rich or poor neighbourhood, or by ethnicity’ (Andersson, 2006). The process or segregation would involve interplay between ‘structure and agency’. For example, a household might call for not only a particular house type, accessibility, or price, but also particular political action or organisation before deciding to buy a particular house. This phenomenon occurs in a number of places such as Londonderry where people segregate themselves by their political and cultural leanings into secluded geographical distribution (Murtagh et al., 2008), or Johannesburg where the spatial segregation coincides with economic, political, and ethnic groups (Bollens, 1998).

It might be unavoidable that a city would influence physical, economic, social, or political structures in relation with specific intergroup differences. In other words, communal conflict might have a long existing history involving religious, ethnic or territorial claims. However, urban planning practitioners could choose either to support or to challenge the phenomenon; to react passively or actively (Bollens, 2006). In a situation where conflict has already exploded, urban policy and planning could act as the catalyst for the city to regain the ‘normal’ life. An urban space might become a catalyst which could encourage better social relationships.

In this situation, an urban planning practitioner will need enough knowledge to sensitively put cultural issues in the urban policy agenda and then challenge the issue of diversity (Sandercock, 2003). As a result, urban policy would need to encourage integration of those diversities (Neill, 2004)

Urban Development and Social Diversity | 40 not only at community level but also at regional level (Andersson, 2006). In other words, urban planning has the capability to carefully create assimilation between groups and to avoid a divided society within a city or even a nation (Bollens, 2006). To better understand the complexity of the issues of diversity, social conflict, and urban development, a practical effort of observation could include a number of aspects such as ‘the nature of differences, sociological construction of territorial place, effect of differences on urban communities’ (Murtagh et al., 2008), and ‘potential of social uncertainty’ (Bollens, 2006).

The issues of conflict over territorial claims often emerge as a violent conflict between communities either in segregated or polarised society. It could involve a dispute over land, property, inappropriate use of land, or a disagreement of a specific interest to a particular social group over property ownership. One socio-cultural group might have a different perception of the appropriate use of a piece of land. This fact implies the necessity of having an inclusive and culturally sensitive system of land and property management (Bollens, 2006; Koeswinarno, 2006; Koeswinarno and Abdurahman, 2006). In a situation where segregation clearly occurred by dividing socio-cultural groups into segregated settlements, the boundary between the two communities became a critical point to work on (Bollens, 2006; Murtagh et al., 2008). Working on the edge, particularly in the case of Belfast, could provide a melting pot for people from a different socio-cultural background (Gaffikin, et.al. 2001).

Such vibrant and inclusive social space would invite people to freely express their identity in many forms, such as events, cultural performance, art, or even public speeches. This space became a shared space which could lead to different future developments (Smith and Alexander, 2001). It represents a civic space by using architecture, heritage, (Bret, 2001) and other tangible urban fabrics in respect to history, traditional values, or socio-cultural differences (Suchting and Weiss, 2001). It symbolises the celebration of socio- cultural differences. This kind of event is believed to be able to generate understanding across different socio-cultural groups as well as its act as a means of economic regeneration.

Urban Development and Social Diversity | 41 Economic development has an important position when a researcher attempts to understand the nature of conflict. In Johannesburg, for example, the redevelopment of the city has to consider the fact that segregation happens to follow ethnic groups and economic class divisions (Bollens, 2006). In Indonesia, where coincidently the conflict occurred following economic crisis, this issue became a popular reason for people to target particular social groups. An unequal development could also limit a particular social group’s access to economic resources. A number of practical examples come up as a response, such as distribution of public benefits and cost, improvement upon economic development, accessibility of financial resources, employment, and many more, including promoting interdependency and cooperation between social groups. Conceptually, the idea attempts to reduce inequality and exclusion within economic development to create a longer-term vision.

At ground level, this concept faces some challenges, especially when there political interest involved. The danger could increase when the socio- economic gap is politicised. In particular circumstances, political matters could also represent the segregation between socio-cultural groups. Power disparities occurring between people and the city authority often challenge an urban development. Addressing people’s aspirations through participatory planning or cooperation is not easy to implement. Not only horizontally, power disparities also appear between different levels of development authority. It indicates the need to have a good system of governance to ensure cooperation and understanding can help development to take place. Multi-stakeholders’ decision making sees major challenges in dealing with the dynamics of urban planning practice.

In brief, the response of urban planning towards social conflict could appear in various ways. In particular, urban planning practice should be concerned with diversity and equality issues. It should apply this basic understanding into practicalities, from power sharing to infrastructure, from education to a cultural event, from housing to an employment provision. In

Urban Development and Social Diversity | 42 response to these circumstances, urban planning could apply more inclusive, unbiased strategies (Cunningham and Byrne, 2006).