Improving Public Participation in Urban Planning - Printable Version

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Improving Public Participation in Urban Planning - harshita - 12-08-2016

Various measures of improving public participation in various activities of urban planning and how the professional town planners can enhance the planning and development of town.

   

1.       Information 


·         Types of information to make public 
·          Educating the public
·          Informing the public
·          Existing and proposed map
·         Vision document
·         Summaries of plan
·         Growth projections
·         Summaries of citizen participation
·         Alternative plans or proposals.

2.       Consideration


·         Composition of the board of inquiry
·         Method of hearing people‟s concerns
·         Methods of inputs of the citizen‟s views
·         Ground for consideration of a particular view
·         Who considers

3.       Resolution and Consensus Building


·         Identifications of groups who are affected and who can benefit the planning process
·         What specific contribution a stakeholder can make 
·         Business groups;
o   Local Elite;
o   Local elected Representatives;
o   Development groups;
o   Local authorities;
o   Neighbourhood groups along with RWAs;
o   Media;
o   Social and environmental groups;
o   NGOs; Professionals and experts in the field;
o   Disadvantaged groups
·         Process of dissemination of information and judgment
·         Channels of communication

4.       Influence and Impact


·         Influence of the participation
·         Changes in the plans or proposal
·         Awareness among public
·         Trial of alternate plan
·         Modifications in the process
·         Public Acceptance
·         Redressal of the grievances of the affected group


Information 

Information is power, and the way it is collected, stored, and disseminated is a vital for making people aware of the ground realities and they might feel free to participate through different channels of communications. Information should be widely accessible and highly integrated into all stages of the process of developing a plan by a public authority which gives transparency to the planning process. There should be conscious efforts by the authority dealing with such process to educate the public so that he can give a better input and feel that he is welcome by the agency in the planning process. Informing is very important as selective informing or informing in such a manner that few can access such information then it becomes less worthwhile unless there are conscious efforts for such response in sensitive matters.


Consideration

Consideration of views expressed by the participants is vital in effective participatory mechanism. So far as possible there should be impartial, independent and qualified board of inquiry and hearing. There should be transparency in the process so that people have a greater say. If board of hearing decides to incorporate a particular criteria for consideration and it must be communicated well in advance.
Who considers the objections and suggestions become important in assessing the impartiality and comprehensiveness of the process?
Participatory planning enables us to answer questions like, “Who else needs to be in this discussion?
How can we engage all of our stakeholders?
Who has previously been silent that needs to be heard?
What are the many voices that constitute our organization or community”?
Consideration is the true reflection of the participatory approach of the planning. No matter how well the public is informed if he is not heard he will feel cheated which can be overcome by resolution.


Participatory Planning Approach
The approach of planning should be shifted from top‐down to bottom‐up approach to make planning process more inclusive, comprehensive, and sustainable. Greater public acceptability is desirable, to ensure that plans are relevant. People can participate in the development process in the following realms:
•       Pre‐plan participation in decision making in vision development, for identification of development priorities.
•       Post‐plan participation before finalisation and implementation of development programmes and priorities.
•       Participation during implementation and evaluation of development programmes and project.
•       Participation and sharing the benefits of development, managing the assets etc.
e‐Platform and crowd sourcing are coming up as new modes of obtaining feedback speedily.
Taking into account the interest, attitude and behaviour of the people, role of urban development professionals and obligations of local authority, a system of participatory plan approach has been suggested as under:

Participatory Planning Approach

   

Source: Community Planning Assistance Program, Arizona Department of Commerce and UDPFI Guidelines, 1996.

The suggested indirect participation of the people is ensured through elected representatives in the Municipal Council / Corporation and Ward committees. The direct participation can be through individuals, citizens, neighbourhood, business, consumer and other such groups.
There are several mechanisms and avenues for people’s participation available today, few of these have been presented below. Such mechanisms and avenues can be used to bring wider and more interactive participation of public in planning and developmental process: [sup]2[/sup]


•       Community Design Charrettes* It is a multiple‐day interactive meetings, workshops and site walks/visits that fosters diverse and community sourced ideas;


•       Advisory Committees: Committees made up of representatives guide planning efforts over an extended period of time while regularly meeting during the planning process;


•       Low Cost Demonstrations and Transformations: Use of blocks and day to day objects to create a low cost model of proposals for visual understanding. Relatively inexpensive temporary transformations are made to test the project and experience changes.


•       Focus Groups: Allow small groups of stakeholders to provide their knowledge of a project area and discuss their concerns and issues with local authority staff, planning consultants etc.
•       Other: Citizens report card, participatory mapping and participatory budgeting etc.
 
*A charrette is an intensive planning session where citizens, designers and others collaborate on a vision for development, giving immediate feedback to the designers. This process allows everyone who participates to be a mutual author of the plan. It is located near the project site, team of design experts and consultants sets up a full working office. Formal and informal meetings are held throughout the event and updates to the plan are presented periodically. Through brainstorming and design activity, many goals are accomplished during the charrette.

(i)                  Everyone who has a stake in the project develops a vested interest in the ultimate vision.
(ii)                The design team works together to produce a set of finished documents that address all aspects of design.
(iii)               Since the input of all the players is gathered at one event, it is possible to avoid the prolonged discussions that typically delay conventional planning projects.
(iv)              The finished result is produced more efficiently and cost‐effectively because the process is collaborative.

Charrettes are organized to encourage the participation of all. That includes everyone who is interested in the making of a development: the developer, business interests, officials, residents, and activists. Ultimately, the purpose of the charrette is to give all the participants enough information to make good decisions during the planning process.
 
Role of professional town planners in planning and development of town

An urban planner or city planner is a professional who works in the field of urban planning for the purpose of optimizing the effectiveness of a community's land. They formulate plans for the development and management of urban and suburban areas, typically analyzing land use compatibility as well as economic, environmental and social trends. In developing their plan for a community (whether commercial, residential, agricultural, natural or recreational), urban planners must also consider a wide array of issues such as sustainability, air pollution, traffic congestion, crime, land values, legislation and zoning codes.


·         To provide quality built environment backed by urban development management skills, to promote healthy, safe and sustainable development of both urban and rural settlements.
·         Effective land use with transport planning to enhance the look and socio-economic environment of the urban. This is only possible with strategic planning and advantageous use of the space and light.
·         The designs of the commercial and industrial use, roadways, water and sewerage systems, transport, and conservation also play an important role in developing a town
Town planners should consider several elements while developing a town. These include;
·         Safety: To avoid injury from accidents or furies of nature.
·         Slums: To address the issue of slum development.
·         Aesthetics: To make sure a tidy and clutter-less city with proper zoning, arrangements, and
segmentations.
·         Urban decay: Urban renewal for cities suffering from decay.
·         Transport Planning System: Considering the flawless transportations system with roads,
·         highways, and railways.
·         Reconstruction: Reconstructions of urban decay and renewal of slums.
·         Sub-urbanization: Leaving space to develop the existing city.


·         land use management  
a.       Building restrictions,
b.      water systems
c.        zoning
d.      transport planning
e.      sewerage


·         Strategic planning.  : Future developments in urban planning for getting a whole new town or for redeveloping the existing town.
The whole aspect involves a lot of arts and aesthetics along with the technicalities. So, governments and communities employ trained town planner to improve the quality of life.
Town planning includes improving the environment with amenities and achieving certain economic and social objectives. While planning for all these amenities, it is also essential to consider traffic engineering and sustainable transport for traffic safety in residential areas, and around sensitive land uses such as child care centres, local schools and kindergartens. There is a rapid raise in number of vehicles on road; so rate of accident has also increased drastically. 

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