scholarly journals Citizen Involvement in the Decision-Making Processes of Environmental and Spatial Planning, and it’s Influence on Public Participation: a Case Study of Lisbon

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 790
Author(s):  
Diana Andreea Onose ◽  
Ioan Cristian Iojă ◽  
Mihai Răzvan Niță ◽  
Gabriel Ovidiu Vânău ◽  
Ana Maria Popa

Urbanization and ageing are the two main processes currently shaping the social environment worldwide. In this context, creating senior friendly cities should be an important target, especially in developed countries, which have the highest rates of population over 60 years old. Our study focuses on the use of urban parks and aims to analyze how friendly their planning, design, and use are for elderly people. We used field observation carried out in four case study parks in Bucharest (Romania) to assess the spatial planning and design of urban parks, and to identify the environmental problems. We applied a total of 5752 questionnaires (16% to elderly people) in the majority of Bucharest’s parks in order to analyze the behavior and perception of seniors in contrast with that of the general population. The analysis highlighted the lack of endowments especially planned or designed for seniors and the multiple problems deriving from their interaction with other visitor groups which make them feel disrespected or unsafe. Our study highlights the need for including the needs, demands, and desires of elderly people in decision making processes, with the aim of creating inclusive and senior friendly parks.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 581
Author(s):  
Edyta Bąkowska-Waldmann ◽  
Tomasz Kaczmarek

Together with technological innovations and the development of a digital society, PPGIS approaches have been rapidly growing popular in the last years, in Poland’s local administration. Local governments take significant interest in online tools; however the principles of public participation, which, in fact, should also be applied to e-consultations, are still missing. One of the assumed roles of PPGIS is to support public participation—not just in terms of the number of stakeholders, but especially in terms of the impact on decision making. The present paper discusses the results of investigations into two decision-making processes, regarding local spatial planning in the Poznań agglomeration, Poland, conducted in 2015–2021. Its aim is to verify the hypothesis that the use of PPGIS facilitates more meaningful involvement of citizens in spatial planning. As a result of the case study analysis, in-depth interviews with local authorities and officials, and analysis of the planning documents and the role of PPGIS in public participation in decision making, was investigated. It was shown that in both processes there was no direct participation of society in decision making. However, the use of PPGIS, according to local authorities, had implications in the context of the wider process of local governance.


Water Policy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 622-640
Author(s):  
D. D. Costa e Silva ◽  
H. M. L. Chaves ◽  
W. F. Curi ◽  
J. G. V. Baracuhy ◽  
T. P. S. Cunha

Abstract The current worldwide water resources issue is one of the crucial matters to overcome obstacles to sustainable development. This problem, formerly tackled in a sectored manner, is now pointing towards an analysis directed to treating the watershed as a management unit, with regards to all dimensions of knowledge and, especially, to the public participation in the decision-making processes. As an alternative to measure its performance, it has been sought out to develop indexes aimed to measure its sustainability, but there is still a lack of the use of composed efficient methodologies that also enable public participation in decision-making. This research presents a methodology comprising 15 indexes for the calculation of the Watershed Sustainability Index (WSI), followed by the application of the PROMETHEE multi-criteria analysis method and the COPELAND multi-decision-maker method. The methodology was applied to evaluate the performance of subwatersheds of the Piranhas-Açu watershed, located in the Brazilian northeast semi-arid region. The performance ordering, obtained through the application of the methods, emphasizes that subwatersheds' performances are uneven. It can be noticed that the subwatersheds' performances are still far from ideal in relation to water resources management, even in the ones that displayed satisfactory index levels.


2012 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 94-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodrigo Salcedo ◽  
Alejandra Rasse

This paper addresses the scholarly debate on cultural homogeneity or heterogeneity of urban poor families. While authors such as Lewis (1959) or Wacquant (2000 ; 2001) claim that structural disadvantages are linked to a particular type of identity or culture, others such as Hannerz (1969) , Anderson (1999 ; 2002) , or Portes ( Portes and Manning, 1986 ; Portes and Jensen, 1989 ) believe that it is possible to find different behaviors, expectations, decision–making processes, and outcomes among people living in seemingly identical structural conditions ( Small et al., 2010 ). Using Santiago, Chile, as a case study, we differentiate five different cultures or identities among the poor. Those identities seem to be the product of different historical and political circumstances, as well as of different types of public policies. The paper ends with a discussion of the need for poverty reduction policies to consider these differences among the poor.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 395-404
Author(s):  
Maurice S. Nyarangaa ◽  
Chen Hao ◽  
Duncan O. Hongo

Public participation aimed at improving the effectiveness of governance by involving citizens in governance policy formulation and decision-making processes. It was designed to promote transparency, accountability and effectiveness of any modern government. Although Kenya has legally adopted public participation in day-to-day government activities, challenges still cripple its effectiveness as documented by several scholars. Instead of reducing conflicts between the government and the public, it has heightened witnessing so many petitions of government missing on priorities in terms of development and government policies. Results show that participation weakly relates with governance hence frictions sustainable development. Theoretically, public participation influences governance efficiency and development, directly and indirectly, thus sustainable development policy and implementation depends on Public participation and good governance. However, an effective public participation in governance is has been fractioned by the government. Instead of being a promoter/sponsor of public participation, the government of Kenya has failed to put structures that would spur participation of citizens in policy making and other days to activities. This has brought about wrong priority setting and misappropriation of public resources; The government officials and political class interference ultimately limit public opinion and input effects on decision-making and policy formulation, which might be an inner factor determining the failure of public participation in Kenya. The study suggests the need for strengthening public participation by establishing an independent institution to preside over public participation processes.


Author(s):  
Jill Cottrell

Examining the Constitution of Kenya 2010, the chapter picks up its concept of public participation in decision-making and a more active form of democracy than simply voting once in five years. In Kenya, Parliament and other legislatures, as well as executive bodies and the judiciary’s administration regularly invite public input into their decision-making processes. The courts have held some legislation, though not at the national level, invalid for want of adequate participation, while the Supreme Court, rather the chief justice, has set out principles of participation in a major judgment. The chapter traces the rationale and the history of this development, and attempts a preliminary assessment of its impact on Kenyan democracy. Suggestions are also made for making public participation more effective.


Author(s):  
Yangji Doma Sherpa ◽  
A. John Sinclair ◽  
Thomas Henley

The Himalayan region of India is experiencing rapid development in tourism, agriculture, highway construction and hydroelectric dam construction. This research considered the role of the public both within and outside of development decision-making processes in these high mountain environments using the proposed Himalayan Ski Village (HSV) in Manali as a case study. The qualitative data revealed that there has been an extensive array of public participation activity related to the HSV project over approximately 10 years. Very little of this activity has evolved, however, through the formal decision-making process. Rather, most participation activities, such as general house meetings, objection letters, public rallies, court cases against the proposed project, and a religious congregation were instigated by the public to protest the proposed development. The findings also show that involvement in the participatory activities undertaken by the public and project proponent fostered instrumental and communicative learning outcomes.


Author(s):  
Danita Catherine Burke

Abstract The Arctic Council is frequently called a unique forum but, as this article argues, clubs are common in international politics and in many respects the Arctic Council is a club. This article explores the questions: Why are the Arctic states acting like a club in Arctic politics, and how do internal hierarchies influence how clubs make decisions? As the article illustrates, clubs are the stage for club diplomacy and, in club diplomacy, hierarchies play an important role. Using the Arctic Council as an illustrative case study, this article argues that clubs have internal hierarchies that inform their decision-making processes and their responses to challenges to their status. When clubs try to deal with subjects that extend beyond the boundaries of the sovereignty of club members and the parameters of club membership, club members may suffer from a lack of status and legitimacy to unilaterally deal with the subject.


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