新作坊 Humanity Innovation and Social Practice

Using web technology to increase levels of public participation in planning

摘要：

Concerns to ensure public participation within and in support of planning have been a durable and extensively debated topic since at least the early 1960s. The rationale for academics and policy-makers to agonise over this issue, and the merits or benefits of public involvement in planning, have also been roundly discussed during the intervening years. Among the perceived benefits of web technologies are a wealth of barriers to success which, to some degree, mimic those experienced by practitioners using traditional methods of engagement. Ultimately, it is suggested that only those who are already intrinsically motivated to be politically active are likely to engage in a meaningful way in an online scenario. While the use of web-based platforms might be ideally placed for people to discuss neighbourhood issues, there are certain reservations surrounding the extent to which local deliberation will ever reach a satisfactory conclusion over national and international obligations on issues such as climate change or energy provision.