The politics of recognition and planning practices in diverse neighbourhoods: Korean Chinese in Garibong-dong, Seoul

Abstract

Whilst involving diverse local groups in urban policies is a key concern for planners, mechanisms to enable participation are often based on the problematic process of identifying minority groups. This paper concentrates on the concept of recognition when investigating the marginalisation of immigrant groups in local policymaking. It demonstrates that urban policies are sometimes built upon categorisations that reproduce a hierarchical relationship between ethnic groups, and thus inadvertently act as a possible barrier towards ethnic minorities. The findings draw upon qualitative research in Garibong-dong, Seoul, South Korea, a neighbourhood with a significant Korean Chinese population. I argue that participatory processes need to understand more carefully how the processes of group identification, as practised by planners and state officials, are integral to the transformation of group relations. In turn, this requires loosening ideas about how desirable qualities are identified in potential community participation and rethinking presumptions about ethnic minorities. Only then can engagement proceed in more equitable ways within planning systems.