published_or_final_version / Urban Planning / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

Thesis (B.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1976. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH / Bibliography: leaves 66-67. / by Carl Raymond Strauss. / B.S.

This study is on coproduction as a governing policy instrument. Coproduction can be understood as the joint production of services by local officials and individual citizens intended to raise the quality and or amount of service provision. The concept of coproduction as developed in this study suggests that urban services are not simply created by officials and delivered to a passive public. Rather that actions of citizens are an integral part of the service production process. The study purposes are two-fold: (1) to construct a model of coproduction which provides a basis by which citizen involvement in the provision of public services can be fully understood and appreciated; and (2) to examine the usefulness of this model by using it to frame and guide evaluative research on a specific program which targets coproductive participation of citizens. The research examined efforts to implement a program to encourage recycling by residents in multifamily complexes in the City of Portland by involving the direct participation of the managers of the complexes. The research conducted in this study addressed both the inputs and outcomes of citizen involvement in coproduction. Findings of this research are suggestive of the potential importance of both inclusion and volition to furthering citizen involvement in the coproductive process. The level of citizen involvement in producing the programmatic outcomes was by most measures demonstrated to be very important. The results of the investigation in demonstrating the importance of involvement in coproduced programs in generating broader levels of community awareness and involvement, however, were not as conclusive. The model of coproduction developed in this study provides a potentially useful conceptualization of the process and outcomes of coproduction. The empirical investigation provides an assessment of the nature and strength of the relationship between citizen involvement and the coproductive process in the case of Portland's multifamily recycling program. Both the economic and civic considerations of coproduction which were specified and measured in the research contribute to a number of observations about coproduction as a policy instrument leading to several policy recommendations for programs which are built on citizen involvement.

Urban decay has become a serious problem in many countries around the world, and urban renewal has been widely adopted as an important national strategy to encounter such problem. After decades, public participation as a soft part was taken into account to supplement the physical reconstruction. In developed countries and regions such as Hong Kong, Singapore, U.K., etc, the spirit of public participation has permeated in the whole society, and has been applied in the urban renewal process, while in developing countries such as Mainland China, public participation is more like a slogan. In the real practice, to complete urban renewal as fast as possible, participation is generally ignored by the government, and the public do not have the consciousness of participation. General conditions and specific cases of public participation in urban renewal in both Mainland and Hong Kong are illustrated. In this dissertation, however, unlike most scholars’ judgment, advantages of Mainland’s mode are confirmed, and disadvantages of Hong Kong public participation are a little different from common argument. Based on literature review and international best practices, four factors are extracted to establish an ideal framework of public participation in urban renewal, namely special executive agency, comprehensive and detailed legislations, public’s consciousness of participation and rich free social resources, which mainly refers to non-government organizations. Recommendations to both Mainland and Hong Kong will be proposed on account of the model in the end of the dissertation. / published_or_final_version / Urban Planning and Design / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

published_or_final_version / Urban Studies / Master / Master of Social Sciences

published_or_final_version / Urban Studies / Master / Master of Social Sciences

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.T.R.P.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1995.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.T.R.P.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1998.

This thesis examines how planners negotiate urban design by examining a case study of a development project that was planned for the waterfront of Vancouver, British Columbia in the 1990s. This project, called Portside, was to be situated on land owned by the federal government, adjacent to the downtown of the City of Vancouver but not under their jurisdiction. The literatures in urban design and negotiation theory are iteratively searched to find where there is overlap between theoretical writing on related subjects and communicative or collaborative planning. Qualitative methodologies were used in researching this subject with emphasis on interviews of representatives of those parties involved in negotiations. The questions asked in the interviews mirror the progression of ideas in the theoretical underpinnings of the paper and form the framework around which the results are organized. The statements of the interview subjects form the basis of the about what works in negotiating urban design. High quality urban design is the result of a high quality design process-one that uses effective negotiation techniques and a mixed bag of practical planning tools. The theory of communicative planning acknowledges the importance of negotiation skills and multiple approaches to overcoming obstacles such as those found in the case study. The importance of visual communication skills, team cooperation, anticipation of problem areas, and flexibility within bureaucratic frameworks for planning professionals are underlined as a result of examining this development project. It is apparent that negotiating urban design happens often in Vancouver. It is also apparent that practitioners are unclear as to how they reach agreement in areas that can be subjective and unquantifiable, only that agreement is usually reached. The literature of communicative planning supplies suggestions as to how "messy" problems, such as negotiating urban design in a multi-stakeholder context, can be successfully overcome. And the techniques put forward in the theory are apparent in practice in this case. A high-quality communicative planning process, one that made good use of best negotiative practices coupled with effective design-specific communication, led to highquality urban design for this project. These methods were applied largely unconsciously by the participants as part of a mixed bag of practical planning tools.

This thesis explores the topic of seniors' participation in community planning. More specifically, it addresses the importance and relevance of including seniors, seniors' issues, and seniors' perspectives in community planning efforts, the circumstances under which seniors are most likely to become involved in community planning efforts, and guidelines for a practical process to encourage effective seniors' participation in developing local community plans. To address these issues, the thesis includes a review of the planning literature on public participation, a brief summary of relevant trends in gerontological literature, and an examination of the small amount of literature on seniors' participation in community planning. Two case studies in the District of North Vancouver, BC, "Seniors and the Lynn Valley Plan" and the "Seymour Local Plan Seniors' Forums," provide an example of a particular seniors' outreach process. This process is analysed for its effectiveness in including seniors, seniors' issues, and seniors' perspectives in local community plans and then factors influencing effectiveness are examined. This thesis reveals that the inclusion of seniors, seniors' issues, and seniors' perspectives engenders more accurate planning, increases acceptance of community plans, exercises democratic rights and duties, and promotes self-sufficiency and self-worth in individuals and communities. Seniors are most likely to become involved in community planning efforts when they feel included: when they feel they are fulfilling a meaningful role, when certain emotional needs are satisfied by the planning process, and when they are able to take advantage of participation opportunities, that is, when aging-related needs are taken into account in designing and implementing planning processes. The process employed in the two cases studied, with certain suggested improvements, is found to be an appropriate and effective method of including seniors, their issues, and their perspectives in community planning efforts.