published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1981. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Bibliography: leaves 236-240. / by Mauricio Miguel Gaston. / M.C.P.

Bibliography: leaves 98-103. Examines the role of public participation in coastal protection and coastal management in two marina developments proposed for Yorke Peninsula. The study concluded that there was potential for the South Australian Planning System to incorporate sustainable development and involve the public to a greater extent. The Environmental Impact Assessment process has been perceived as a means of incorporating the principles of ecologically sustainable development at a community level, but the extent to which this has occured for the marina developments at Port Vincent and Wallaroo is limited.

This dissertation addresses an age-old topic, but introduces some different insights. Overall, it is a sound piece of research that satisfies the requirements of a course work masters. Her topic is interesting in the context of a large-scale infrastructure project and the research questions are carefully formulated. The research method is appropriate and adequately described. In view of the (not unexpected) difficulties encountered with respondents in the field, she has made effective use of the sources that were available. The theoretical framework appears to cover most of the relevant literature; and is written in a coherent way. The description of the case study is clear. It presents a complex and fascinating set of stakeholders and daunting challenges for Planners attempting to mediate between macro, national scale infrastructure needs on the one hand, and on the other, social justice in communities where the prevailing laws and practices militate against women and the poorly educated. The findings are reported in chapter 4. These provide a valuable insight into dynamics within and surrounding the participation process. In the course of this chapter, she unveils an interesting array of issues, many of which are about power relations. This makes the topic difficult to research fully in the context of an MTRP dissertation. However, while not achieving much analytical depth, she has produced a useful set if insights that will be of value to other researchers in this field. The conclusions and recommendations have been dealt with in a systematic, yet thoughtful manner. / Thesis (M.Arch)-University of Natal, 2001.

Since the mid 1970s there has been an increasing effort to adopt community participation as a necessary instrument for people driven development. NGOs and governments have come to use this participatory approach not only to empower local people, but also to give them a platform to plan and implement their own development projects. However in Zimbabwe, the government has failed to fund most projects and it has created a gap for NGOs to provide most, if not all services in rural communities. NGOs have been seen as better institutions to facilitate development projects and to engage local people to actively participate in development issues. Community participation is a central component in development projects as the projects respond to the people’s needs and that local people are in full control and ownership of these projects. This study is an assessment of community participation in NGO development projects in Zimbabwe. The study investigates the extent of community participation in development projects and it is guided by the Participatory Development (PD) theory. Research findings reveal that community participation is minimal in development projects of Bulilima and Mangwe districts in Zimbabwe. Local people are just passive participants of the development projects who are told what to do. The local people’s contributions and influences are sidelined in the planning and decision-making processes; instead these are made by the rural elite who plan and make decisions on behalf of the local people. It is the view of this study that the purpose of community participation is to create opportunities for local people to participate in planning, decision making, implementation, allocation and distribution of resources. The development projects should be responsive to the people’s needs. Similarly, participatory development just like community participation is a process whereby communities are given the opportunity to determine their future in terms of their needs and resources. In this regard, it is relevant that rural communities actively participate in planning, decision making, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development projects. By so doing, the projects become not only successful but also sustainable.

Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Magister Technologiae: Information Technology in the Faculty of Informatics and Design at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2013 / South Africa can be seen as one of the most advanced democracies on the African continent. Its 1996 constitution and state institutions were developed to enable a representative, deliberative and participative democracy. The legislature is predominant and public participation is expected like the element that legitimates the institutions of the state, their decisions and their initiatives. However, despite the use of ICTs to enhance the process of public participation, there remain profound misunderstandings between the government and its communities; expressed in demonstrations, strikes and other violent protests, as dissatisfaction in public service delivery grows and confidence in the government declines. The problem is that it seems that the potential of ICTs to better the processes of public participation is not fully understood and not fully realised. The aim of the study was to seek out elements helping and hindering the use of Mobile, Web and Social media in public participation in the city of Cape Town. This research endeavour falls under eParticipation research. It considers consultation for law and policy making in the city of Cape Town. It examines its democratic, social and communicational anchors in terms of facilitation and openness to change, on one hand; and it examines Mobile, Web and Social media, in terms of adoption and use for the purpose of public participation on the other hand. The research adopted the Critical Realism philosophical paradigm for its ontology and epistemology. It set out to use existing knowledge, theories and models to work mainly with qualitative data. It followed a qualitative, exploratory, holistic, and cross-sectional approach developing a case study of eParticipation in the city of Cape Town from a triangulation of methods. Data was gathered from literature, documents, in-depth interviews, a focus group and observation of meetings. The data gathered was analysed using qualitative content analysis. The case study analysis followed the structure of the research conceptual model and built the story of the development of eParticipation in the city, bringing together readiness achievements in individual community members‘ perceptions and attitudes to eParticipation, and readiness achievements in local government induced social facilitation of eParticipation. These eParticipation readiness elements were considered direct determinants of individuals‘ intention to participate using Mobile, Web and Social media, and of local government democratic engagement and openness to change, constituting the city‘s intensity of e-participation. That estimate of the intensity of eParticipation provided ground to sketch out it position towards achieving ‗cultural eParticipation‘ for the city of Cape Town. This study has implications for theory, policy and practice: It develops analytical frameworks for assessing and determining the place of eParticipation; and it suggests a map of favouring and hampering elements to eParticipation in the city of Cape Town.

Public Participation is widely accepted as a way to strengthen the pillars of democratic and accountable governance. In South Africa, public participation is receiving prominence and increasing attention especially at local government level as this level is regarded as the sphere of government closest to the people. The new democratic government in South Africa regards public participation as a cornerstone of democracy. Ackerman (2004:448) asserts that the opening up of the core activities of the state to societal participation is one of the most effective ways to improve accountability and governance. Such accountability and involvement can be better achieved when communities are part of decision making processes in their communities. In South Africa, public participation was heralded by various pieces of legislations which obligated the public to participate and have a say in the decisions taken by their communities. Section 152 of the constitution: Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act No 108 of 1996) requires local authority to “encourage the involvement of local communities and community organizations in matters of local government” Informed by the broad principles of the Constitution, the White Paper on Local Government 1998 introduced the notion of developmental local government. According to this Paper, “developmental local government is defined as local government that is committed to working with citizens and groups within the community to find sustainable ways to meet their social, economic and material needs and improve the quality of their lives”. It is through the process of public participation that citizens are given the opportunity to provide input and partake in decision making on service delivery and governance matters of their municipalities. It is widely acknowledged that active public participation is evidence of deepened democracy and can assist municipalities in i) enhancing service delivery ii) making government and officials more effective and accountable and most importantly involve the communities in decisions affecting their lives and communities. By and large, community involvement through public participatory systems ensures that municipalities incorporate the developmental needs of the people. Theseneeds are expressed and consolidated in municipal integrated development plans. To realise the above, the White Paper on Local Government 1998 suggests that “municipalities should develop mechanisms to ensure citizen participation in policy initiation and formulation, and the 3 monitoring and evaluation of decision-making and implementation”. As outlined above various laws gave a new meaning and a legitimised mandate to the role of local communities in the development of their communities. Informed by the above, this study examines the extent to which public participation influences decision making within the IDP processes and by association its impact on service delivery. This study is premised on the widely accepted view that public participation is a process involving the community or the public to gather opinions, investigate the needs, desires and wishes of the local community and to ensure that they as the community are involved in the decision making processes of their municipality. The study is of the view that the IDP processes represent a structured vehicle to enable citizens and groups to influence decision making through institutionalised municipal participatory structures. By so doing, the public and the government form a pact/partnership to ensure that the needs and aspirations of the community receive priority in the IDP processes.

The history of urban policing paints an evolutionary picture describing the various forces that impinged on society's earliest efforts at public policing and led to numerous reforms culminating in what has been termed the professional model of policing. The dynamics of an ever-changing urban society continued to present new challenges to policing and have driven police administrators and politicians to seek new methods of responding to society's criminal element.

Uppsatsen undersöker hur makt kan förskjutas till medborgarna och ge verkligt inflytande. Forskning visar att makt finns inom planeringsprocessen och det behövs tas i beaktande för att skapa verkligt inflytande. För att undersöka detta fenomen studeras projektet Sigtuna stadsängar, ett stadsutvecklingsprojekt som genomförts med rådslag innan utförandet av detaljplan. Studien ämnar att genom intervjuer undersöka hur dialogerna var utformade och genomförda utifrån tre perspektiv: medborgare, kommun och exploatören. Intervjun användes för att jämföra svar och se hur de olika aktörerna upplevt dialogen och projektet. Vidare syftar studien med hjälp av dokumentanalys att undersöka huruvida medborgardialogen innebar ett faktiskt inflytande. Resultatet visar att det fanns en stor vilja att låta medborgarna vara delaktiga i processen där medborgarna har haft inflytande i flera steg på olika nivåer och tagit det slutgiltiga beslutet om projektet ska genomföras eller inte. I projektets slutgiltiga tekniska detaljer fanns makten hos exploatören och kommunen. / The essay examines how power can be shifted to citizens and provide real influence. Research shows that power exists within the planning process and it needs to be taken into account to create real influence. In order to investigate this phenomenon, the project Sigtuna stadsängar is studied, an urban development project that was carried out in consultation before the implementation of the detailed plan. The study aims to examine through interviews how the dialogues were designed and carried out from three perspectives: citizens, the municipality and the developer. The interview was used to compare answers and see how the different actors experienced the dialogue and the project. Furthermore, with the help of document analysis, the study aims to investigate whether the citizen dialogue meant an actual influence. The result shows that there was a great desire to let the citizens be involved in the process where the citizens have had influence in several steps at different levels and made the final decision whether the project should be implemented or not. In the final technical details of the project, the power was with the developer and the municipality.

Trots en markant ökning av vaktpersonal i privat regi under de senaste decennierna finns det inte mycket empirisk forskning om allmänhetens uppfattning av väktare. I detta arbete undersöks malmöbornas tillit till och tillfredställelse med väktare och syftet med studien är att får en inblick i allmänhetens inställning till vaktpersonal. Enkäter delades ut i Malmö med frågor angående upplevd tillit till väktare, tillfredställelse med väktare samt frågor om respondenternas uppfattning av väktares professionalitet, ansvarskyldighet, framställning och artighet. Urvalet bestod av 78 respondenter och resultaten tyder på att den allmänna uppfattningen av vaktpersonal är mer positiv än negativ. Upplevd professionalitet hos väktare påverkade tillit till väktare och upplevd artighet hos väktare påverkade tillfredställelse med väktare. Hur man upplevt väktares beteende vid personlig kontakt visade sig påverka uppfattningen av både tillit till och tillfredställelse med vaktpersonal. Studier om allmänhetens uppfattning av vaktpersonal kan användas i utbildande syfte för vaktbolag för att påverka väktares beteende och agerande mot allmänheten. Ökad kännedom av allmänhetens inställning till vaktpersonal är även relevant för politiker i deras ställningstagande av framtida reglering av den privata säkerhetsindustrin. / Despite the rapid increase in private security guards in recent decades, little is known about citizens’ perception of security guards. In this paper citizens’ trust and satisfaction with security guards is assessed. The aim of the study is to get an insight into citizens’ perception of private security guards in Malmö. Paper and pencil surveys were distributed in Malmö with questions regarding perceived trust and satisfaction with security guards and about security guards’ professionalism, accountability, imagery, and civility. The sample consisted of 78 respondents and the findings suggest that the overall perception of security guards was more positive than negative, however, the results were largely mixed. Perceived professionalism predicted satisfaction with security guards and perceived civility predicted trust in security guards. Also, security guard behavior while interacting with the public was a strong predictor of both trust and satisfaction with security personnel. Results from this study and similar studies can be used by private security organizations to educate staff in order to improve the public perception of security guards. It may also be useful for policy makers in order to make more educated decisions about future regulation of the private security industry.