AVS. Arkitektúr verktækni skipulag - 01.12.2004, Síða 31

Public Participation in Planning
Hildur Kristjánsdóttir, Anthropologist, M.Sc. in Sustainable Development
Public participation or consulta-
tion is a comparatively new phe-
nomenon in pianning in lceland.
According to definitions this involves
the collaboration of inhabitants and
decision makers in planning.
Through effective consultation with
interested bodies and respect for
different interests and views condi-
tions are created for good planning
results and better solutions.
Increased emphasis
on consultation
From the 50s there has been
increased interest in public partici-
pation in the creation of society and
the environment. Increased public
involvement is now a public policy
in planning is now a common plan-
ning policy in western countries and
in many countries there have been
enacted laws about the right of the
public to participate in decisions
involving their environment. Article
9 of the lcelandic Planning- and
Building Law no. 73/1997 states:
„In the preparation of plans the
opinions and proposals of the
inhabitants and interested bodies
shall be sought, as far as is prac-
ticable, on planning policies and
goals.“
The Planning Regulations also state
on advertising and participation:
„Policies and emphasis in plan-
ning proposals should be made in
as much collaboration as possible
with the inhabitants and other inter-
ested bodies and proposed plan-
ning should be made public e.g.
through advertising, circular letters
or meeting and opinion sought with
regard to main emphasis. Further
on in the planning process active
collaboration of interested bodies
shall continue to be enlisted with
the final preparation of the planning
proposal.“
As can be seen from the quotes
above there are no clear instructions
as to how much consultation should
take place with inhabitants and/or
interested bodies and how that
should be carried out.
What type of consult-
ation?
There exist different types of con-
sultation with inhabitants during
the different phases of the planning
process. The use of these meth-
ods of consultation has been on
the increase in lceland as in other
countries. What methods are best
suited and how they are followed
up depends on the nature and size
of each planning area. It is however
important that the choice of method
aims at enlisting the collaboration of
as many as possible from different
groups of society.
If public participation is to have
some value it is important to cre-
ate circumstances to enable equal
participation in society and that this
consultation can result in a gain for
as many people as possible. One of
the main goals of the methods used
should be to overcome the barriers
of common and general participa-
tion of people in accordance with
their interest.
A key issue in this is that consulta-
tion does not necessarily mean a
transference of power from govern-
ing bodies to the inhabitants but as
has been stated, some kind of col-
laboration between the inhabitants
and the public authority.
Consultation, and
then what?
With an emphasis on increased
consultation with the public ques-
tions arise about if the participation
og the inhabitants is of any use. To
ensure this it is important to inform
the inhabitants who have taken part
in the consultation process of the
results of their participation. It is
important for the participants to see
that their participation matters and
that they are not involved in false
participation democracy.
Follow up does not necessarily
mean that all the ideas put forward
will be carried out but that the gov-
erning bodies react to the results of
consultation and inform the public
what the next steps will be. In con-
sultation the governing bodies also
have to decide how the follow up
will be carried out.
One of the most serious mistakes
in public participation in decision
making concerning the environment
and planning happens when the
governing bodies promise to carry
out to some extent the wishes and
opinions of the inhabitants and then
break this promise. This undermines
the credibility of governing bodies
and hinders further development of
inhabitant democracy in any field.
Political will and honesty is always
a premise for increased public par-
ticipation and professionalism ín
the carrying out of this consultation
is also a premise for effective use
of participation methods and the
subsequent analysis of this consul-
tation. ■
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