Notwithstanding its progressive and reformist pretensions, modernist planning has two central problems: (1) some of its concepts and ideals turn out to be hollow; and (2) it has a sinister "dark side". Because of (1) and in spite of (2), the official order imposed by planning is sometimes subverted by people whose livelihoods are not catered for in the exclusionary urban spaces that planning produces. I develop these themes through systematic studies of planning, planners and youth in urban Zimbabwe in four strands.
The first strand entails peering into the nature of urban planning. I critique the
progressive and reformist pretensions of planning through a rigorous engagement with contemporary planning theory. In the second strand, I explore the first central problem of planning practice. I critique planning concepts and ideals at the point where planning attempts to connect knowledge to action. I unravel the rationalities, attitude and behaviour of planners, critiquing their view of themselves as 'means-end' specialists. I uncover the strategic rationality of the youth whom planners try to 'hang out' with. I expose the dishonesty and deception on both sides in the poisoned interactive space. The
dark side of planning is the subject of the third strand. I reveal this side by peering into planning's response to 'spatial unruliness'. I expose how the planning system is able to mobilise the state's repressive apparatus to 'restore order' by cleansing spaces that have been 'contaminated' by informal livelihood practices. I discuss the extreme version of this side in Operation Murambatsvina/Restore Order. In the final strand, I scrutinise the youth's resistance tactics. I analyse resistance in its three manifestations: resistance to deceptive and/or authoritarian and domineering planning styles; resistance to planning's urban orders and exclusionary urban spaces; and resistance to spatialised repression.