The settlers’ plan (it is by design): Margaret Ellis-Young, ‘Foundational But Also “Beyond the Scope”? Planners’ Reflections on Land Use Planning as a Space for Indigenous-Settler Reconciliation in Two Canadian Cities’, Planning Theory & Practice, 2026 | settler colonial studies blog

The settlers’ plan (it is by design): Margaret Ellis-Young, ‘Foundational But Also “Beyond the Scope”? Planners’ Reflections on Land Use Planning as a Space for Indigenous-Settler Reconciliation in Two Canadian Cities’, Planning Theory & Practice, 2026

13Sep26

Abstract: While planning practice in settler-colonial contexts has long reproduced the settler-colonial relationship, growing municipal attention to colonial inequities provides a potential space for transformation. Drawing on semi-structured interviews, this paper interrogates how municipal planners involved in comprehensive land use planning processes in Montréal and Vancouver represent “reconciliatory” practice. The analysis reveals a tension in how planners represent their reconciliation responsibilities toward the transformation of settler planning practices versus in ways that justify their continuity. In doing so, it positions planners’ motivations to proactively disrupt colonial land use planning dynamics as a central component of a more expansive space for reconciliation.

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