‘The exception to the rule’: exploring the exception and the exceptional in planning policy

Abstract

This article explores exceptions to planning ‘rules’ as a specific form of discretion exercised by planners and decision makers. Theoretical and conceptual ideas on rules and exceptions to rules, drawing principally on administrative and political decision making, are used to examine the role of exceptions and exceptional circumstances in planning. This analysis addresses the interdependency between exceptions and ‘rules’, the circumstances in which planning decision makers are invited to consider exceptions to rules or exceptional circumstances, and the distinct forms of planning regulation created using exceptions. The conclusions call for systematic analysis of the role that exceptions play in different contexts and planning systems.

Illegal short-term rentals, regulatory enforcement and informal practices in the age of digital platforms

“…Those in charge of controlling and enforcing compliance -the inspectors who represent 'the hard hand of the state' (Van de Walle and Raaphorst, 2019) -are 'street-level bureaucrats' who have a degree of discretion in their interactions with citizens, 'because the accepted definitions of their tasks call for sensitive observation and judgement' (Lipsky, 2010: 15). Formal systems of rules always include room for exceptions (Harris, 2010(Harris, , 2021 and discretion in interpretation. There are always 'pragmatic politics' involved in regulatory enforcement (Coslovsky et al, 2011), and inspectors often have to exercise judgement when deciding to pursue particular cases (Gurran et al, 2022;Maalsen, 2020;McKay, 2015;Van de Walle and Raaphorst, 2019).…”