The Communicative Work of Development Plans

The author examines the contents of three recent British development plans to identify the systems of meaning (discourses) embodied within them. The objective is to illustrate the communicative work that plan texts perform in specific situations, and to identify how the planning work of a discursively democratic community might be reflected in a plan. The three plans reviewed are the Unitary Development Plans for Birmingham and Solihull, and the Harlow Local Plan. In conclusion it is argued that discourse diversity is common among those with an interest in plan contents and processes. A democratic plan should thus speak interdiscursively, recognising the existence of different systems of meaning with a community.