How planning limits its concern: a case study of planning for dogs in Melbourne, Australia.

As urban planners focus on creating more sustainable cities, there is an increasing need to plan for other species. Found in around 40% of Australian households, dogs have a growing, legitimate presence in urban culture and society. Dogs however remain a neglected subject of urban planning scholarship and practice. This paper critically examines the practice of strategic planning as it applies to dogs in the urban context of Melbourne, Australia. Through a narrative of the institutional voices of practising strategic planners and other institutional discourse of local government, this paper provides a critical examination of how strategic planners shape – and limit – the concern of urban planning. This paper provides a deeply critical glimpse into the modus operandi of the strategic planner negotiating controversy on planning’s frontier. Institutional ontology is shown to dominate any efforts of strategic planners to effect change to urban planning’s field of concern.ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHERCopyright of Australian Planner is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]