Public involvement in planning processes is increasingly expected and
demanded by members of the local community and it is also a key method that
the planner can use to gain insight into a community. The challenge which
professional planners face is in finding effective methods for involving the public
in complicated and technical decisions which planners have traditionally made in
isolation. Specifically, technical zoning law can be overwhelmingly complicated
for members of the public. Today's planners are challenged with establishing
processes which are inclusive and which generate consensus-based solutions.
This thesis examines the use of collaborative planning to address the issue of
compatible single-family infill housing. Specifically, this thesis addresses three
questions: what are the elements of a collaborative public involvement process
which can assist in creating a new single-family infill-zoning category; what are
the limitations of using collaborative public involvement processes in
neighbourhood re-zonings; and how does the Delbrook case study exemplify the
use and implications of collaborative public involvement?
These questions are examined via two avenues: a literature review focusing on
public involvement, collaboration and monster house infill construction; and a
case study analysis examining the Delbrook neighbourhood zoning project. The
major findings of this thesis define evaluation criteria, emerging from the literature that can be applied to analyzing collaborative public involvement
processes and also extract key lessons learned from the Delbrook case study.
Significant conclusions of this thesis are that the public expects inclusive
processes; the public is capable of rising to technical zoning challenges; it is
important that the levels and opportunities for involvement are appropriate to the
planning process; it is important to identify and periodically re-visit the roles of
those involved in public involvement processes; and a clear and attainable goal
must be set for collaborative public involvement processes. The Delbrook case
study further illustrates that issues which inspire a great degree of controversy
and which are complex in nature will require a more collaborative public
involvement framework; the time spent on collaborative processes can cause the
public to burn out; consensus building among those involved must always
consider the larger community; and that collaborative processes are dynamic.
In conclusion, it is noted that more research should be conducted on how the
increasing empowerment of groups may or may not affect the power of the
individual, the impact which the process chosen may have on the product or
results; the extent to which limitations exist for lay persons involvement in
technical planning subjects; and an exploration of other practical applications for
dealing with large house infill construction.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/7748 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Paton, Jennifer Lynn |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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