Its main principle is that no man or group of men should have power to decide what another man's status ought to be, and it regards this as a condition of freedom so essential that it must not be sacrificed to the gratification of our sense of justice or of our envy.
-F.A. Hayek
Hayek is an economist of the Austrian School and a classic liberal.
This may seem unrelated to my usual urbanist musings, but at the core it's really very much connected. Individual property rights often cause quite a headache for planners that simply want to see their plan implemented. Obviously the most successful planners are the ones that learn to work the system efficiently and effectively.
Also, that being said, I'm not sure what the classic liberal, or present-day libertarian's view is on planning; it is important to note that planning and a free-market society are not opposing theories.
Comments