Abstract
This article develops an edge based social network approach to examine how networked power is distributed and reproduced in online planning controversies. Existing research often measures influence through actor level centrality, which can obscure the relational processes through which information, support, opposition, and legitimacy move between actors.
The paper shifts the analytical focus from individual nodes to directed interactions and recurring relational patterns. It examines how different types of ties connect citizens, public authorities, experts, media organisations, and third parties, and how these relations structure unequal opportunities to shape public debate.
The study operationalises network power as a relational and measurable process for planning research.