The National Environmental Policy Act and the USDA Forest Service: Where We Agree, Where We Disagree, and Why

In this article, we respond to a critique of our earlier work examining the USDA Forest Service’s (USFS’s) planning processes. We appreciate that our critics introduce new data to the discussion of USFS planning. Further data integration is a promising path to developing a deeper understanding of agency activities. Our critics’ analysis largely supports our original claims. Our most important difference is in our conceptualization of the planning process’s relationship to agency goals. Although our critics conceive of the USFS’s legally prescribed planning processes as a barrier to land management activities, we believe that public comment periods, scientific analysis, and land management activities are tools the agency uses to achieve its goals of managing land in the public interest. Study Implications: The USDA Forest Service’s current planning process has been critiqued as a barrier to accomplishing land management activities, but it is also an important tool for insuring science-based management and understanding public values and interests that the agency is legally bound to uphold.

Public Interest in Spatial Planning Systems in Poland and Portugal

As the level of development increases, spatial planning is becoming more significant among public management tools. Although the issue of spatial planning and its mechanisms has been repeatedly investigated in the literature, the issue of clashing of interests of different actors remains to be examined. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare the enforcement mechanisms of the public interest in the spatial planning systems of Poland and Portugal. The analysis was based on a comparative analysis of the legal basis of the spatial planning systems of the countries. The research confirmed the hypothesis that even with some sociocultural and economic similarities, different countries do not have to create similar mechanisms for the realisation of the public interest in spatial planning processes. The specific solutions adopted in Poland and Portugal differ so much that the enforcement of the public interest proceeds with very few similarities. The integrated Portuguese planning system, with its hierarchical elements, facilitates the achievement of the objectives of public entities. On the other hand, the Polish system, with the dominant position of the municipality, pushes great possibilities of influencing the planning by land administrators, and the poor location of spatial planning in all public tasks makes it difficult, and sometimes even impossible, to achieve public goals in space.

Durable Civic Technology

Minecraft is a video game that allows players to interact with a 3D environment. Launched in 2009, Minecraft has surprisingly durable popularity. Users report that Minecraft is easy to learn and understand, engaging and immersive, and adaptable. Outside North America it has been piloted for urban planning public consultation processes. Five years ago, authors conducted research using key informant interviews. This study asked practicing urban planners in Canada to assess Minecraft's potential. Key findings address Minecraft's usefulness as a visualization tool, its role in building public trust in local planning processes, the place of play in planning, and the challenges associated with its use in public consultation. This chapter explores Minecraft's ongoing use, offers reflections as to how this game could effectively be used for public consultation, and concludes with key lessons for urban planners whose practice intersects with our digitally-enabled world, with a particular focus on new application possibilities in smart city planning projects.

Urban Green Infrastructure as a Strategy to Address Urban Energy Efficiency and Sustainability. A Case Study of Milagrosa (Pamplona)

Green Infrastructure (GI) has gained importance in recent years as it has been revealed as an essential piece to face the environmental problem generated by the incessant growth of urbanization, loss of biodiversity, and climate change. In this vein, the results of a research aimed at investigating the challenges posed by the implementation of the GI in the usual compact urban spaces in the cities of the Mediterranean area are presented, based on the analysis of indicators on green spaces in the Spanish city of Pamplona. A comparative analysis of the indicators (green spaces and trees) in the city’s neighbourhoods using GIS tools reveals the high intra-urban inequalities as well as the existence of, particularly, underfunded areas. The morphological analysis of one of the underfunded spaces (La Milagrosa neighbourhood) also shows that the narrowness of the road and the shortage of green spaces constitute obstacles that must be addressed from the planning tools of the GI. The results allow us to reflect on the importance of the scale of analysis in the planning processes of the UGI (Urban Green Infrastructure) and on neighbourhood the suitability of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) as an alternative for the design and implementation of the UGI.

Theory, methodology and practice of regional strategic planning

In the monograph, the region is presented as a complex, multilevel socio-economic system consisting of many heterogeneous, interacting economic entities of different levels (economic agents and markets, management, resources and economic processes), jointly organizing reproduction processes embedded in the economic space of the national economy on the local territory. Currently, the role of rational management of the socio-economic development of the region is increasing. In such conditions, it is advisable to use strategic planning, which, in turn, has increasingly been carried out using a simulation model. The simulation model in regional strategic planning allows government agencies to predict their activities in the presence of various controlled and uncontrolled factors of the external and internal environment. In this study, the list of principles of strategic planning focused on the processes of strategic planning of the region using the method of simulation modeling is supplemented. A methodology for organizing strategic planning processes at the meso-level using simulation modeling technology is proposed. For a wide range of readers interested in the problems of regional strategic planning.

Public participation power dynamics in strategic development planning in a metropolitan municipality: Eastern Cape Province

Background: Public participation in municipal strategic development planning processes does not occur in a vacuum; it is juxtaposed within contextual community realities of power, politics, institutional, systemic practices, cultures and inequities in resource capacity, amongst other relational social practices.Aim: The aim of this study was to explore the nature of power dynamics in participatory governance platforms and spaces during municipal strategic development planning processes and the extent to which they impact developmental outcomes in a metropolitan municipality.Setting: A metropolitan municipality in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa.Methods: An interpretive, constructivist, cross-sectional exploratory case study collected in-depth qualitative data from purposefully sampled participants (n = 34) using focus-group discussions. Qualitative data were processed using NVivo 8 computer software and analysed using a thematic analysis approach.Results: The results indicated mixed views on participants’ satisfaction with public participation in municipal strategic development planning processes. Participants reported inadequate knowledge, capacity and capability; resource limits; political exclusion and language barriers, which muted community voice and disempowered, marginalised and excluded some residents from meaningfully participating and articulating community voice, priorities and needs.Conclusion: Public participation in municipal strategic development planning in the metropolitan municipality is at best tokenistic, constituting mere ‘window dressing,’ co-option and ‘pretence’ of inclusion of communities/residents in public participation platforms and spaces. Whilst on the surface, public participation appears inclusive of a range of stakeholders, at best powerful andr elite interests shape strategic development planning outcomes. A local governance framework for enhancing community voice in public participation platforms and spaces is recommended.

Towards Intergenerational Equity: Analysis of Youth Engagement Strategies in Climate Action Planning in Mzuzu, Malawi

Globally, meaningful youth participation in planning processes aimed at dealing with climate change impacts has been advocated for sustainability purposes. Article 6 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change requires parties to ensure there is public participation in addressing climate change, its effects, and the development of responses. In the city of Mzuzu, Malawi, local community members have been involved in planning processes at different planning levels but more intensively at the community level. Despite this approach receiving much attention, minimal consideration has been put on which societal groups are to be engaged directly, with youths being excluded to a large extent, even though about 49% of the population in Malawi is aged between 10 and 34 years. This article, therefore, seeks to foreground how current stakeholder engagement strategies in climate change planning marginalise the youth. To do this, this article critically reviews current stakeholder engagement strategies and assesses the extent to which youth are involved in the planning processes in Mzuzu City. It further assesses the factors affecting youth involvement in the planning process and subsequently recommends how stakeholder engagement strategies can be designed and implemented to ensure effective youth engagement in climate change planning processes in the city.

SPECIFICITY OF THE ARCHITECTURAL AND SPATIAL ORGANIZATION OF THE PETROGRAD SIDE OF ST. PETERSBURG

The preservation of the historical, urban planning and architectural heritage of the central territories of St. Petersburg requires a special approach to solving the problems of reconstruction and renovation of the historical urban environment. The modern period, characterized by active reconstruction of the historical center, puts forward new requirements for the preservation of cultural heritage sites. The att itude to history as an experience, on which modern practice should be based, presupposes the disclosure of historical architectural and urban planning processes on the basis of systematization of existing and fi lling in missing information. This allows us to analyze the spatial and temporal transformations that the city underwent in the course of its development. Revealing the internal laws of the genesis of these processes is of great importance. The article analyzes the state of urban landscapes within the boundaries of the historical territories of the Petrogradsky district of St. Petersburg.

The participation of citizens in land use planning and decision-making in Northern areas – the potential of PPGIS in increasing interaction

This doctoral dissertation studies the use of the public participation geographic information system (PPGIS) in land use planning and decision-making in sparsely populated Northern regions. The main research question is: What types of practices and knowledge does PPGIS bring to public participation in land use planning in Northern regions? Sparsely populated Northern regions pose a specific challenge for planning. In those regions, land ownership by the state or the municipality is general and there are many different interests by locals and non-locals in the same regions. The reconciliation of different land uses is essential because of the many interests (e.g., tourism, nature conservation, mining, forestry, indigenous people, interests of locals and non-locals, recreation and reindeer herding). The different roles of the information, land use and the development of the participation and interaction in land use planning are in focus. The relevant question is who and which interests lead land use planning and decisions. In this research, the participation in land use planning processes in sparsely populated Northern regions has been examined and participation possibilities have been developed with a mixed method approach. Both qualitative and quantitative methods have been used in the data collection and analysis. The best practices of the use of PPGIS have been studied as well as the novelty of the PPGIS knowledge. The implementation of PPGIS data in decision making, one of the biggest challenges in the field of PPGIS research, has also been examined. The approach of the research is empirical. The research is a case study and three different sets of data have been collected from Finnish Lapland, sparsely populated regions, from 2015 - 2019. This research used electronic and paper PPGIS, interviews and studying reports and documents. The data is qualitative, quantitative and spatial, and was analyzed with the principles of theory driven content analysis and GIS analyzing methods (theme maps). The results show that the maintenance and development of the participation possibilities in land use planning are an important part of democratic society. It is essential to maintain discussion, debate, criticism and right of appeal. In the Northern regions with many land use interests, there is no one right way to involve people. The participation is context sensitive; the involvement process and involvement groups need to be estimated in every situation, place and context. PPGIS has the possibility to improve interaction in sparsely populated regions. The benefits of PPGIS appeared strongly for different data, for example, visually and presenting data on the map in the spatial mode, the possibility to virtually and remotely collect information from a big audience (both locals and non-locals) and the possibility to handle and combine a large amount of digitalized, spatial data. Increasing trust and transparency between different groups were remarkable issues as well. In sparsely populated regions, the fear of stigma is important to take into account when people participate. Thus, PPGIS can encourage people to participate in the land use planning processes due to its characteristics of maintaining anonymity. It is essential that PPGIS method is used for the real, and even acute, land use needs and thus, motivating respondents to answer is easier and the likelihood of the results being used increases. If the use of the PPGIS method is not strongly linked to the planning process, the results might be of little consequence. Hence, it is recommended that the use of PPGIS is connected with the planning process and in the early phases. The interest of the organizational managers toward the PPGIS method is essential so that the benefits would be as strong as possible. The PPGIS method cannot replace other participation methods, but it is good to view as one tool in participation and collecting social spatial data. When the PPGIS method is used, it is important to be critical because the tool is often a commercial product and there is a risk that the needs of the user are not responded to, for example, with the technical characteristics. Making an internet-based PPGIS survey is relatively easy, but it is relevant to use sufficiently deep analysis after gathering the data, for example, with GIS analyzing methods. Systematic storing of PPGIS data in the IT-system of the organization is crucial so that the information is subsequently easy to access. Keywords PPGIS, land use planning, participation, reconciliation of land use interests, sparsely populated Northern areas