This thesis examines the concepts of power and participation and how they are
intertwined in the examination of the urban planning systems in Curitiba, Brazil. Power is
identified as both the planning system's ability to affect the daily lives of the city's
residents and the power of individuals and groups to influence the planning process.
Participation relates to how individuals, groups and communities are involved in the
planning process. As a case study, Curitiba presents an example of how power gradients
within the city influence participation in planning and how the power of planning impacts
the daily lives of citizens.
To explore these two themes, ethnographic research was conducted using ten key
informants and more than twenty supporting informants. Additionally, participant
observation methods and demographic data supplemented the respondents' statements.
Three main aspects of the city's planning system -- transportation, land-use and education
-- are examined. The discussion of these systems focuses on four main themes -- public
participation, the role of government, the unequal provision, access and use of social
services, and power relationships.
The final three chapters examine the theoretical implications of this work and the
application of the results to planning elsewhere. Planning in Curitiba demonstrates the
inability of modernization theory to explain the multidirectional influences of planning
concepts. Dependency theory and the world-systems perspectives are shown to offer
better explanations of the dominance of multinational corporate interests in planning and
the role Curitiba's planning systems play in incorporating residents into the broader world.
Furthermore, the planning system in Curitiba shows the inability of elitist and pluralists
perspectives of community power structures to capture the complexity of planning
decisions. On the individual level, the resistance of shanty town residents to planning is
viewed as a form of participation.
Curitiba's planning systems show the importance of including the whole
community in the process. Planners must encourage citizen participation and work to
mobilize diverse community groups. Planning must be depoliticizing and supported
through innovative leveraging of the city's resources. In promoting a city's planning
identity, planners must identify the individual interests that motivate involvement in the
planning process. / Graduation date: 1998
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/28323 |
| Date | 02 June 1997 |
| Creators | Piel, Eric W. |
| Contributors | Young, John A. |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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