for watching Ben Davy's digital lecture at the RWTH Aachen (ca. 50 min.)
Article 1 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (18 December, 2000, C 364/01) asserts: “Human dignity is inviolable. It must be respected and protected.” Despite the prominent position of human dignity as European value, it is doubtful whether human dignity is also a European planning value. Although human dignity has caught the attention of scholars in many different fields, planners remain unresponsive. Three reasons may be given for the planners’ neglect of human dignity: (1) so far, nobody has inspired planners to cherish human dignity as a planning value or goal; (2) planners respect and protect human dignity, but do not use the term; (3) planners distrust values that are not too complex for laypersons.