Prepared by Roberto RoccoChair Spatial Planning and Strategy, TU Delft

Challenge(the(future

SpatialPlanning&Strategy

Governance for Urbanism

Participation and Reason

Photo by Sarah Cass at Flickr

SpatialPlanning&Strategy&Strategy

This is the second lecture on Governance for Urbanism, in which I present a contrast of two relevant terms for spatial planning and design of the built environment.

In the first lecture, I contrasted ‘justice’ and ‘property’ **See the lecture on JUSTICE X PROPERTY by clicking HERE

Here, I contrast ‘participation’ and ‘reason’

This lecture is based mainly on Lehtonen (2011), Fainstein (2000) and Harvey (2008)See complete list of references at the end.

If we assume that...Knowledge is INTER-SUBJECTIVE and it happens between two or more reasoning beings

I You

It is easy to assume thatKnowledge is communicative, that is, only through communication can we achieve knowledge that is relevant or ‘usable’ or even TRUE

But why is that so?

Photo by Sarah Cass at Flickr

Knowledge needs to be explained in order to become tangible , transmissible and verifiableEven EXPERIENTIAL KNOWLEDGE (acquired by experience or LEARNING BY DOING) needs to materialise into actions, things or words that then need to be discussed and measured against other knowledge in order to become operational in the physical world.

OtherwiseOne can never

know whether

what one has is true

knowledge or just pure fancy

Photo by Sarah Cass at Flickr

Remember that...Knowledge that exists only in your mind is IRRELEVANT!

Because it is not operating in the world!

It is more than validationIt is not only about validating your knowledge. Communicating your knowledge will make it EXIST in the world and BE USEFUL.

Communicating knowledge will also CHANGE YOUR knowledge, YOU and the person you are communicating WITH.

The ultimate test

Are the others!Photo by Sarah Cass at Flickr

Photo by Sarah Cass at Flickr

But what (the hell) does this have to do with spatial planning and urban design?

If we acknowledge that urban planners and designers are part of complex systems of governance

Like soPrivate Sector

Civil Society

Public Sector

Civil

Public Sector

Coalitions between sectors and within sectors

Urban planners&

Designers

And if we then assume that...Urban planning and designing are inter subjective activities, where it is all about understanding the wishes and aspirations of multiple stake holders to help them achieve THEIR objectives...

...while promoting prosperity, public goods, equal distribution of spatial opportunities and avoiding negative externalities

Then we must conclude that any project or spatial intervention needs to have some degree of participation of those stake holders

This means that individual or sectorial needs and wishes must be articulated into plans and designs that maximize the common good

Why is this

problematic?

Photo by Sarah Cass at Flickr

There are no neutral or purely ‘technical’ parameters or agents in urban development. All decisions in urban development are political decisions, including yours (although you will certainly guide them by technical, ethical, aesthetic, economic and other parameters)

Urban development lies within the realm of politics, interests and negotiations. Knowledge and power are side by side, like in everything else.

But then, there is

REASONPhoto by Sarah Cass at Flickr

And most speciallyCOMMUNICATIVE REASON

guiding decisions by technical, ethical, aesthetic, economic and other parameters is part of reasoning

By saying that spatial planning and design are ‘political’ activities we mean that there are choices to be made in a societal arena: these choices are made by active agents based on their values and interests

Photo by Sarah Cass at Flickr

Photo by Sarah Cass at Flickr

Values like Social Justice and Democracy

Or greed and individualism

Photo by Sarah Cass at Flickr

Photo by epsos.de at Flickr

The problem is that not everyone has a

voice in urban development. Some agents are more vocal

(powerful) than others..

Not everybody has access to relevant

knowledge

Photo by Sarah Cass at Flickr

Worse

still: the knowledge of

some groups is

considered

irrelevant

or is not

recognized

as

knowledge

Photo by Sarah Cass at Flickr

Children

Young girl by CubaGallery at Flickr

Mothers

Pregnant woman by IzdelavaVabil at Flickr

HomelessHomeless man in Tokyo by theeruditefrog at Flickr

Immigrants

Diversity in the workplace, available at http://www.siop2011.com/category/diversity/

in addition!

“People don’t only write history, they build spaces

WAGNER, C. 2011. Spatial Justice and the City of São Paulo. masters, Leuphana University.

According to David Harvey:The Right to the City is not only the right to inhabit the city. It is the right to shape living environments to one’s needs and wishes.HARVEY, D. 2008. The Right to the City. New Left Review. New Left Review.

Articulating the knowledge of different groups does not mean absolute relativismabsolute relativism

Absolute relativism:This is an extreme form of relativism which asserts that all truths are equal and completely dependent upon some external or contextual factors.

Source: Post-modernist dictionary at http://www.postmodernpsychology.com/Postmodernism_Dictionary.html

And this is postmodernism!

It also does not mean that all knowledge is valid or relevant By the way, ‘knowledge’ is different from needs, wishes or even objectives (e.g. I KNOW that having a big car is bad for the environment, but I WANT to have a big car because it is a symbol of status)

In order to create knowledge about the direction to take and where to invest in the common interest, there must be communication and we can facilitate communication by promoting PARTICIPATION

Participation therefore means giving a voice to those who are generally silent, ultimately redistributing power

Some rights reserved by Ibai Lemon at Flickr

This is also

known as

DEMOCRACY

Photo by Sarah Cass at Flickr

Participation is more......than asking people what they want. It is also about explaining, collecting ideas, debating and putting different stakeholders (NGOs, firms, associations) together in order to engage them and facilitate their working together

Communicative turn in planningIt is the recognition of differences in the identity and knowledge base of people and the resulting need to promote participation and give a voice to the former silent groups

Photo by Sarah Cass at Flickr

It is about recognizing that...1.All forms of knowledge are socially

constructed2.Individuals and institutions have

different interests and power relations3.Society is complex and planning

should incorporate that complexity in the way it operates

Communicative planning is a reaction to earlier comprehensive, rationalistic, technocratic planning theories which adopted a ‘single world view’(white male Western capitalist technocrat )

President Kennedy visits NY World Fair, Photo source: http://ilongisland.com/Robert_Moses_Long_Island.htm

A reaction to positivist planning

THENAll knowing

NOWMediator

Participatory planning and designing

Emphasizes involving the community in the strategic and management processes of spatial planning through tools like direct participation, vision making, on-line debates and participatory budgeting

Participatory Reflection and ActionHanding over the stick : Facilitating investigation, analysis, presentation and learning by local people themselves, so they generate and own the outcomes and also learnSelf-critical awareness: Facilitators continuously and critically examine their own behaviourPersonal responsibility:Taking responsibility for what is done, rather than, for instance, relying on the authority of manuals or on rigid rulesSharing: Involves the wide range of techniques now available, from chatting across the fence to online scenario building

Source: Fisher, Fred (2001). Building Bridges through Participatory Planning. UN-HABITAT. ISBN 92-1-131623-5. Retrieved 2008-10-21.

What are the challenges to implement participation in planning and designing processes?

Photo by Sarah Cass at Flickr

Photo by Sarah Cass at Flickr

This part of the lecture is based on Lehtonen’s text:

LEHTONEN, S., 2011. Public Participation in Urban Planning and Strategies: Lessons from medium sized cities in the Baltic Region, Frederiksberg: MECIBS

Photo by Sarah Cass at Flickr

We must consider the human

and social capital of

inhabitants as POTENTIALS

FOR REVITALIZATION in

situations of rapid change

Potential for revitalization

Photo by Sarah Cass at Flickr

Avoiding social exclusionParticipation is a tool

to build up citizenship

and to avoid social

exclusion (which is

often related to

restructuring local

economies and

unemployment)

Photo by Sarah Cass at Flickr

New innovative arenas and processes

...are needed to realize place-potential and people-potentials

Photo by Sarah Cass at Flickr

These new arenas, devices, tools and means of participation are necessary for all, but specially for the silent groups (children, youth, elderly people, people of different ethnic origin, and in some cases, WOMEN!)

Silent groups

Photo by Sarah Cass at Flickr

Time, money and increasing argumentationParticipatory processes need resources: time, organizational efforts, communication and commitment (from inhabitants AND administrations!). For the city it entails increasing criticism and increasing need for argumentation

Human capitalSocial inclusion

New toolsSilent groups

Resources

Participation

What politician needs that?

Photo by Sarah Cass at Flickr

It is incredibly

time consuming!

Non-participatory plans can also deliver good

results

There is a huge

gap between

participatory discourses

and practices

‘City building requires empowering those who are excluded not just from the DISCUSSION but from structural positions that allow them genuine influence’. (Fainstein, 2000)

But can

participation

deliver better

results?

Photo by Sarah Cass at Flickr

Yes, it can!

Tools&Practices

Photo by Sarah Cass at Flickr

Self-teaching: locals act as teachersPublic hearingsParticipatory budgetParticipatory zoning

Main practices for PP

Questionnaires and InterviewsPublic hearingsDirect planner-stakeholder contactInternet games and scenario buildingSocial media hearingsStrategy-making gamesRole playingLocal plan makingBlogging

Map and model buildingStakeholder mappingInstitutional diagrammingTime-lines and trend analysis

Main tools for PP

Agora: the wisdom of crowds

Budget simulator

All our ideas

See examples of tools at:http://participatedb.com/tools/

Thanks for listening and watching!

References:FAINSTEIN,  S.  2000.  New  Directions  in  Planning  Theory.  Urban  Affairs  Review,  35,  

451-­‐478.

FISHER,  Fred  (2001).  Building  Bridges  through  Participatory  Planning.  UN-­‐HABITAT.  .  Retrieved  2008-­‐10-­‐21.

HARVEY,  D.  2008.  The  Right  to  the  City.  New  Left  Review.  New  Left  Review.

LEHTONEN,  S.,  2011.  Public  Participation  in  Urban  Planning  and  Strategies:  Lessons  from  medium  sized  cities  in  the  Baltic  Region,  Frederiksberg:  MECIBS

Post-­‐modernist  dictionary  at  http://www.postmodernpsychology.com/Postmodernism_Dictionary.html

WAGNER,  C.  2011.  Spatial  Justice  and  the  City  of  São  Paulo.  masters,  Leuphana  University.

This presentation was prepared by Roberto Rocco, Chair of Spatial Planning and StrategyDelft University of Technology (TU Delft)

You can contact me at r.c.rocco@tudelft.nl

With special thanks to Sarah Cass from the US, who gracefully allowed the use of her photographs. You can see the original photographs at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcassphotography/

And this is Joel(Sarah’s

husband)This is Sarah

SpatialPlanning&Strategy&Strategy

Some rights reserved by Jonathan Mcintosh at Flickr