Listening to communities: Locality research and planning

This paper examines the use of community audits in plan formulation. Empirically, it evaluates the development of the strategy to implement the European Union's URBAN Initiative in Derry/Londonderry, Northern Ireland. The core method used to determine the content of the plan was a series of semi-structured, in-depth interviews with community groups, tenant associations and voluntary organisations. The paper reviews the approach within the context of normative debates on the need for 'listening' strategies within land-use planning. It concludes by highlighting the importance of qualitative methodologies in opening consultative dialogue and discussion with deprived urban communities.