Planning and Territorial Governance: A Sociological Reflection from the Ground

Abstract

Based on multiple experiences of field work in planning and instances of territorial governance, the article gives an account of a reflection, in this regard, on two levels. On the one hand, on the level of the position of sociology and sociologist in relation to such a field of work and to a specific modality of exercise of its professional and scientific competences. On the other hand, in concrete terms of the country's reality, with its own level of development and its specificity in economic, political, social and cultural terms, confronted, especially in the last decade, with the pressure to accelerate development processes at all levels and at the same time meet the new requirements of the current phase of transition. The paper reports on the complexity of the role of sociology in work in "participatory strategic planning" and the implementation of "new forms of social regulation at local level" and concludes that ​​governance should be viewed "as a process", stating, in this regard, some points for further reflection.