PL599 : The Class : Creating Character : Public Participation : Public Participation

Public participation is a necessity today, especially in public agency decisions. In Arizona planning, public participation is actually required by the ARS. And in the growing smarter legislation, it is mentioned again. This focus on public participation was not always the case. Prior to the 1960s, the decisions were typically top-down, made by administrators with little or no public input. Until the 1960s, that is.... Displacement and disenfrachisement of peoples, particularly minorities, of those affected by federal policies such as urban renewal finally caught the attention of the executive branch. Lyndon Johnson's Great Society legislation included federal funding and programs with the proviso of public participation. From there on out, this activity has grown.

Public participation tends to be most embraced by those vested in an issue or the educated (educated tend to have higher incomes and be better situated to take time off for meetings). Lately, the retired segment of the population has been extremely active (time). The one group that tends to be left out of the participation process tends to be young people. It is very important to involve even elementary students in decisions and visioning. They will inherit the landscape. The City of Phoenix has used students to design art-enhanced neighborhood gateways. Even park planning can use children's input. In this way, what is important to kids will be shown, even if it's only design, not policy.

Techniques range from information sharing (rather than power sharing) hearings to plan-ins and charettes, where the public are active participants in planning and designing areas. Most are pretty simple to use. I teach a course on public participation to my undergraduate planning majors. In addition to reading theory and watching different strategies, they actually run mock activities using focus groups, facilitation, affinity diagrams, scrolls, and visual preference surveys.

Think about the way public participation is used in your community as well as statewide. Think about the issues. What comes to mind? If a city has a legal mandate to accomplish something, such as air quality, there really is no need for participation to determine if it will be enforced. Case closed. But maybe the public should be consulted about the different methods that may be employed to accomplish the objective. The surveys you read earlier were another form of public participation. The community was self determining what was important. The survey itself was the result of a community meeting, another form of public participation commonly used by planners..

Things to think about....

What forms of public participation have you participated in? Why did you do it?

What is the downside to participation? There has to be a limit.

How can technology be used to increase participation?

Suggested Reading:

Public Participation in Public Decisions by John Clayton Thomas.

Community Participation Methods in Design and Planning by Henry Sanoff

To complete this Topic successfully, please complete the following activities in the order shown below:

TEXTBOOK READING: Reading

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