Space as mirror: analyzing the spatial justice of the planning practice of shared ownership housing in Shanghai, China

Abstract

Justice is a basic and classic theme. Compared with its meaningful connotations in sociology, economics, and legal disciplines, the spatial dimension of justice lacks sufficient attention and exploration. Can we define space as (un)just? Although scholars have endeavored to build up the conception of spatial justice, there remains a theoretical gap between justice philosophy and spatial planning: the transformation from philosophical justice to spatial justice. As spatial planning involves planning practices that (re)produce space, the gap raises the question of how to transfer complicated philosophical theories of justice to spatial planning and the question of how to analyze the spatial justice of certain planning practices. Existing research puts emphasis on the spatial equity of the distribution of social goods, lacking the theory of justice in planning practices. This study focuses on one more specific question: for planning practice aiming at compensating for historical injustices, does it actually promote spatial justice? Taking the planning practice of shared-ownership housing in Shanghai as a case study, this thesis tries to provide an analytic framework for assessing the spatial justice of certain planning practices.