Planning, Democracy, and University Engagement. A Comparative Study and a Critical Reflection

Abstract

This paper critically reflects on the role of universities in fostering democracy through engaged scholarship, challenging the notion of academia as an “Ivory Tower” detached from societal issues. It presents preliminary findings from a comparative study of two long-term partnerships between planning research units and community organisations: the Graduate Division of City and Regional Planning at the University of Memphis in collaboration with the Vance Avenue Collaborative, and the Laboratory for the Ecological and Environmental Design of the Territory at the University of Catania in partnership with the Coalition for the Sustainable Development of the Simeto Valley. Despite cultural and geographical differences, both cases share a commitment to addressing contentious socio-cultural challenges in their contexts. The paper analyses the practical and theoretical commonalities and divergences between the two partnerships, and highlights structural challenges that may hinder universities from playing a transformative role in their regions.