Planerarnas kunskapsbas : En studie i samhällsplanerarens kunskaper om segregation

In this essay we will examine what kind of knowledge is used by community planners at the municipal level in their work to counter segregation. More specifically it examines where this knowledge comes from, how it is applied in practice as well to what extent the opinions of the citizens are used as a source of knowledge. This has been examined with the help of qualitative research based on interviews. The interviews have then been transcribed, compared to one another and analysed on the basis of the issues, previous research and Michel Foucault´s theories of power and knowledge, specifically his concept power/knowledge. The results showed there was a consensus among the interviewed informants that the most common way of acquiring knowledge was by studying the outcome of previous planning projects. In addition to this, it was found that the most common and seemingly most popular way to counter segregation was with a mixed form of housing, that is to say, mixing different types of forms of tenure in the same area. The area for which there were most differing opinions among the informants was whether or not the opinions of citizens were an important and relevant source of knowledge. Several of the informants regarded that important information was found that could be of help in their planning process, while one of them was skeptical about the relevance of the knowledge that emerged during the dialogue with the citizens. Keywords: Segregation, housing segregation, urban planning, knowledge, power, Michel Foucault, power/knowledge, civic participation.