Thirteenth Global Studies Conference

Abstract

This study interrogates the space between three Pacific Rim cities (Singapore, Vancouver, Beijing) to expand what can be done with transpacific planning and ethics. One has sensibilities of this Transpacific space, yet its defined geopolitical boundaries could never be drawn. Spatially, one might look at the Transpacific as more or less involving certain key entities (political bodies, senses, sites, etc), but the relations forming between these entities are shifting. Given these shifts, and the scale of the Transpacific space, representation of a Transpacific people and thus Transpacific ethics are also shifting. Taking into consideration these oceanic shifts, what amounts to planning as a discipline and knowledge-set may become planning towards its own incompletion. However, this does not suggest inaction, or letting the invisible hand of the market run its course. There can be decision-making strategies in this incomplete mode. Geopolitical projects addressing the (diminished) capacity to act and speak amidst global real estate operations will likewise have to take experimental forms that are both outside-state/public and outside-private, rather than repeat conventional planning’s will toward codification of conduct and typologies. The Multitude – a potential global connection of resistances against capital – is used as a conceptual tool to articulate this incomplete planning.