Opinions from society have become increasingly important in the development of public infrastructure projects as governments and organizations place greater emphasis on public consultation and engagement efforts. With a developing trend around the world (including in Hong Kong) towards greater public involvement in the decision-making processes for public infrastructure projects, it is imperative that decision-makers give sufficient consideration into the needs and concerns from different sectors of society. Inability to do so can lead to project delays, protests and litigation. Existing public consultation and engagement exercises often attract those with the loudest voices or with special interests / motives (political, financial, etc.). Moreover, comments and feedback collected from public consultation and engagement events are often not systematically organized and codified for use as reference in future projects. This leads to the loss of potentially valuable lessons when preparing for new projects. Public engagement, addressing the needs of society and social capital are mostly looked at from the social sciences perspective. Research in these areas focusing on infrastructure development and construction remain limited. Furthermore, there is currently no comprehensive approach and strategy on addressing the needs of society to continuously capture the lessons learned from previous projects. Previous research work on stakeholder engagement in construction focused on analyzing and resolving conflicts between stakeholders; stakeholder identification and prioritization of engagement items based on ethical practices; and integration of project management and asset management teams for providing better feedback on end-user needs. However, these studies did not address some fundamental problems in stakeholder engagement such as the lack of participation from a larger, more representative audience; the need to proactively engage certain groups or sectors of society that are most severely impacted by a project; and identifying the connection between the public and other construction stakeholders to illustrate how the rest of society can contribute and relate to a public infrastructure project. This Study aims to: i) develop an Integrative Approach that can help decision-makers of public infrastructure projects better anticipate, consider and subsequently address the needs and concerns of society when planning and designing public infrastructure projects by empowering stakeholders with knowledge and lessons learned from previous experiences; ii) demonstrate how a broad range of project stakeholders, including the public and various groups in society, can be embraced and connected through mobilization and utilization of social capital; and iii) illustrate the facilitation of knowledge exchange between the various stakeholders of a public infrastructure project. Through a comprehensive research process involving a combination of literature review, interviews with relevant experts, observations at public engagement events in Hong Kong, organizing a public engagement event in collaboration with an NGO, conducting an empirical case study and hosing a workshop with construction industry experts, the Integrative Approach to Addressing Societal Needs was developed, which consist of a Stakeholder Knowledge Transfer (SKT) model, a Relational Knowledge Base (RKB), as well as a set of Strategies and Implementation Measures for putting the SKT model and RKB into practice. / published_or_final_version / Civil Engineering / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

As our contemporary cities continue to revitalize, redefine, and reassert themselves on an international scale, public spaces provide an opportunity to lend the sense of place which makes cities unique and compelling. Several cities such as Toronto, Chicago, and most notably Bilbao have commissioned world renowned architects to design a project in their signature style. These projects are generally anticipated with great excitement, yet once they are completed and a few years have passed, the initial enthusiasm fades along with the international recognition which originated the object. In the end, these projects, regardless of how well they are liked by the citizens of a city, seem to lack a sense of authenticity. Citizen participation offers an opportunity to develop public spaces in a way that will reintroduce the citizen into its built environment. Rather than merely offering a beautiful space, the participatory design model recognizes the collaborative potential with the citizen, and embraces it. This research-based thesis seeks to understand the growing movement of citizen participation and the role it can play in the design of urban public spaces. Furthermore, it examines the role of the architect and how one can begin to successfully integrate the citizen into the design process. The research is divided into three sections. First, a survey of the literature surrounding the field of participation provides an understanding of different attitudes and methods regarding citizen involvement and why its integration into the design of public spaces is important. Second, a series of case studies with varying levels of citizen participation were examined for the role the architect and his/her relationship with the citizen, as well as the overall effectiveness public participation had on the end result. Finally, the third section illustrates two applications of a participation workshop, originally designed by Proboscis, both located in Winnipeg, Manitoba. This thesis maintains that citizen participation is not only beneficial to the development of urban public spaces but is essential if one wishes to design a space that can empower a neighbourhood and its city. Moreover, public spaces designed through the participatory design model allows for citizens to take ownership for the space and appropriate it as their own, which will lead to its continual development, transforming the space into a locus for the city.

No description available.

No description available.

For Maori, the management fo New Zealand�s coast and its resources is fundamental to their cultural identity. Iwi and hapu throughout New Zealand have close relationships with the coast and unique rights and responsibilities for its future management. However, there does not appear to be wide recognition of the crucial role of Maori in New Zealand�s coastal management regime. Co-management initiatives in coastal management, particularly under the Conservation Act 1987, Resource Management Act 1991 and several legislative initiatives controlling fisheries management, are explored and critiqued. Overall, the initiatives demonstrate that progress is being made in coastal management for better protection of Maori coastal values. Nevertheless, there is scope for further improvements concerning greater Maori involvement in coastal management. Recommendations for genuine co-management systems in New Zealand�s coastal management regime include effective communication between iwi and Government; appreciation of the unique nature of each iwi in New Zealand; involvement of a third party communicating between iwi and Government representatives; appropriate funding and resources to maintain the co-management system, and encouragement and motivation from the Government to initiate and maintain the co-management system.

Diss. Sundsvall : Mittuniversitetet, 2008.

Community participation in urban renewal projects has become important in the South African government’s efforts to address past imbalances and improving the livelihoods of socially excluded and marginalised communities. In order for the Helenvale Urban Renewal Project to be successful and bring about sustainable change, it is vital that the community be allowed and encouraged to play an active role in consultation and participation initiatives. This study outlines the importance of community participation, the types, the incentives and disincentives as well as the possible barriers to effective community participation. Findings from the analysis of the collected data indicates that a community project can only be successful if the implementing agent employs democratic principles whereby all residents are given a voice and are allowed to participate in the decision-making and implementation process. This study explores the concept of community participation in the Helenvale Urban Renewal Projects with particular reference to the role played by the Mandela Bay Development Agency in promoting community participation in the Helenvale Urban Renewal Projects (HURP), in Port Elizabeth.

Conflicts between the Province and municipalities over the development of Provincial land holdings are a common occurrence in Provincial-municipal relations. It is inevitable that a municipality and the Province will come into conflict because of the differing communities of interest that they serve. This is especially true when, to be effective, one jurisdiction must depend on the cooperation of another. Conflict is often the result of the unexpected impact of a government project. The Provincial Government holds large amounts of land and is a very major developer. Its projects are often large. The municipality is expected to exercise land use controls and must absorb the immediate, impacts created by the Provincial project. Yet the success of any government depends, in large part, on its sensitivity to the validity of other concerns which may exist. For example, traffic congestion, increased parking, noise, decreased property values, pressure to change land use are the types of concerns which may arise. In addition to the concerns expressed by government, citizens have been playing a more explicit role in the decision-making process. This has increased the spectrum of concerns which decision-makers must account for thereby heightening the potential for conflict. The resolution of land use conflict then, is a common situation for a planner. The potential for conflict is increasing due to pressures of urbanization. It is these pressures which have increased the need for greater cooperation between the Province and municipalities in order for them to carry out effectively their respective mandates. The mechanisms for resolving conflict then become very important if the different levels of government are to be effective in optimizing the public interest. This thesis examines the potential of citizen participation as a mechanism for resolving Provincial-municipal land use conflict. There are many possible forms of citizen participation and their effectiveness varies with numerous factors. To determine whether citizen participation aggravates or alleviates Provincial-municipal conflict the author constructed a hypothetical citizen participation model and tested it against a case study. The case study was the proposed expansion of the Shaughnessy Hospital by the British Columbia Medical Centre. The author chose local area planning, a current means of citizen participation practised in Vancouver, as a potentially resolving influence in land development disputes between the Province and the City of Vancouver. It was hypothesized that: The resolution of Provincial-municipal land development conflicts would be improved by the establishment of a local area planning process in affected parts of a municipality. The study method included a survey of pertinent literature and analysis of documentary evidence of a relevant case study. It established the sequence of events and the various communities of interest in the case study. The main source of data was a series of ten structured interviews. These interviews were with representative people with different degrees of involvment in the case project and varying perspectives on citizen participation. To the author's knowledge, so far no attempt has been made to monitor the area planning process with respect to its ability to alleviate Provincial-municipal land use conflict. This thesis served as a first attempt. Consequently generalizations on its effectiveness in resolving conflict cannot be made. However, the findings supported the contention that a consensus building force should exist if the process of conflict resolution is to be improved. In this case the consensus force was the citizen group. The research showed that the effectivesness of citizen involvement, as a conflict resolving influence, was enhanced by organization and access to information and technical expertise. This would enable the citizen groups to present a better prepared case. It was the organizational ability and access to technical expertise which implied that an area planning process would improve the effectiveness of the citizen position in the decisionmaking process. On the basis of this evidence it was concluded that local area planning, in this case, would have aided the process of conflict resolution. There is a lack of data and experience comparing "'existing area planning processes with each other and with other forms of citizen participation. This indicates that before effective generalizations can be made of the ability of area planning to alleviate Provincial-municipal conflict that further comparative case studies be undertaken. It is recommended that the current area planning process be monitored and that structural analysis be undertaken of who makes decisions and how they are made. This is distinct from participation where groups are involved in the process and present their case. However, after their presentation it is up to the decision-makers to make the decision. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate