Power, planning, and avenues for change: Investigating how power dynamics within the Houston Metropolitan Planning Organization shape the environmental justice outcomes of transportation policy
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2022-08-29
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en
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In the United States, Metropolitan Planning Organisations (MPO’s) are tasked with conceiving of, and approving transportation infrastructure planning in these areas. In Houston, the TPC (the regions MPO) has come under attack by community groups for violating these standards. The research investigates the power relations within the Houston MPO and how they impact the environmental justice outcomes of transportation decisions. This qualitative case study uses the power cube framework, which allows for a dynamic understanding of power, and provides an understanding of where activists may be able to place themselves in order to maximize their own power. The analysis found that while there are actors who can influence decisions of the TPC, ultimately the members of the TPC are the decision makers. Two main discourses were identified. One, the ingrained and undisputed belief that highways are necessary for economic growth and therefore should dominate transportation planning. And two, that the planning and decision making process is so inherently technical that it is inaccessible to anyone who does not have the resources to access and understand underpinning data and decision making policy processes. These realities leave out marginalized groups from decision making, ensuring that environmental justice is not achieved.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen