Putting Localism in Place: Conservative Images of the Good Community and the Contradictions of Planning Reform in England

Abstract

Decentralization of power to local scales has been a central component of successive waves of state restructuring in recent decades, playing a key part in the reformulation of governance Discourses of 'localism' have been mobilized from across the political spectrum, promising greater economic efficiency and more effective administration. Most notably, however, they have been presented as a means of enhancing democracy -drawing a link between the 'local' and more responsive forms of governance