Community Planning 2.0: new perspectives in participative planning in the light of Web 2.0

Abstract

Participative (or participatory) planning, i. e. the involvement of stakeholders and the general public in the creation of their future, is an ever more frequently used method in community planning. It requires and fosters communication, the integration of knowledge and insights at grassroots level and the democratisation of the processes of formulating strategies and visions. Participative planning uses similar platforms as social networks do (Web 2.0) which have become a new paradigm in internet communications and content provision during the past decade. Web 2.0 is a content providing and information sharing concept. Where second-generation web and collaborative planning arecombined, one finds new web-based applications (Geographic Information Systems GIS) which greatly enhance existing methods of community participation and knowledge sharing.

This study focuses on describing the parallels between the bottom-up and decentralised perspectives of participative planning and Web 2.0. Both phenomena thrive on communities’ members taking a proactive role in creating what they eventually “consume”. In the case of participative community planning, it is their environment. In Web 2.0, it’s usually content – such as an enyclopedia or a community content sharing platform. Participative planning project leaders are increasingly making use of Web 2.0 technologies to facilitate peer collaboration among stakeholders and the public. An almost purely Web 2.0-based community planning project (PPGIS; Peng 2001) is used as an example.