What shapes planners’ perceptions of citizens’ trustworthiness?

Recent scholarship has extensively examined and debated the role of trust in public planning. The focus of this research, however, has been almost exclusively on citizens’ trust in planners and planning institutions. In contrast, planners’ trust in citizens remains largely unexplored. This study addresses this gap by investigating how Swedish planners assess the trustworthiness of citizens. Drawing on a national survey, we analyse factors that shape trust perceptions. Our findings indicate that while organizational norms and individual-level characteristics influence planners’ assessments of citizen trustworthiness, the most significant predictor is experiences of participatory planning processes. The implications of these results for both research on and practice of planning are discussed.