Experts are increasingly replacing elected representatives in the planning of Australian cities and regions. Following concerns about delays and corruption, expert decision-making has been promoted as an important mechanism to restore trust in the planning process. Others have expressed concerns about the loss of democracy entailed in this shift, but this is not the whole story. The nature of expertise is itself significant, and we examine the composition of these new decision-making bodies. We focus on Local Planning Panels, the latest suite of expert planning bodies introduced in NSW, the state that has led the shift from elected to expert decision makers. Our analysis reveals that expert panels are highly gendered, which may work against the legitimacy and effectiveness of these increasingly influential planning bodies.

中文翻译：

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值得信赖的机构：规划小组的专业知识、性别和合法性

在澳大利亚城市和地区的规划中，专家越来越多地取代民选代表。由于担心延误和腐败，专家决策已被推广为恢复对规划过程的信任的重要机制。其他人对这种转变所导致的民主丧失表示担忧，但这并不是故事的全部。专业知识的性质本身就很重要，我们研究了这些新决策机构的组成。我们专注于地方规划小组，这是新南威尔士州引入的最新专家规划机构套件，该州引领了从民选决策者到专家决策者的转变。我们的分析表明，专家小组具有高度的性别特征，这可能与这些影响力越来越大的规划机构的合法性和有效性背道而驰。