Challenges and Opportunities for Public Participation in Urban and Regional Planning during the COVID-19 Pandemic—Lessons Learned for the Future

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has spurred significant changes in the fields of economic development, social issues, everyday life, etc. Activities that used to depend on face-to-face communication were firstly suspended and then shifted to new forms of communication. This includes the public participation process in urban and spatial planning. Therefore, this study explores the new domain developed in urban and spatial planning with regard to public participation and surmises future realms in the post-pandemic era. On the occasion of the virtual collaboration platform Cyber Agora organized by the ISOCARP (International Society of City and Regional Planners), chosen participants got together virtually to share, discuss, and compare their practical knowledge in public participation before and during COVID-19. In addition, they addressed the potential benefits of shifting from traditional to virtual participation and potential benefits in the post-COVID-19 era. Considering the collected data and understanding them in the light of the available literature, this study concludes that the application of a combined approach (using both traditional and virtual modes of participation) is recommended because it would enable a larger number and higher diversity of participants. The study also elaborates particular modes of virtual participation with the pros and cons of their use in a particular context.

How Has the COVID-19 Pandemic Affected the Different Branches of the Agri-Food Industry in Extremadura (Spain)?

“…From a macroeconomic perspective, some business experts have drawn up a list of changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic that will have long-term implica-tions [22]. The first is the acceleration towards a digital economy: Governments have adopted measures to restrict physical interpersonal contact, forcing people to interact and work remotely [23][24][25][26][27]. Second, a slowdown in border activity has occurred: the pandemic has disrupted trade, travel, and other border activities.…”

“…First, with respect to the changes they implemented in their processes and as shown by other previous studies and reports, the pandemic has accelerated the trend towards a digital economy [15]. In this sense, governments have adopted measures to restrict physical interpersonal contact, forcing people to interact and work remotely [23][24][25][26][27].…”

Optimising conditions and environments for digital participation in later life: A macro-meso-micro framework of partnership-building

“…During the COVID-19 pandemic, community-based participation shifted from in-person activities towards digital spaces (Pantić et al, 2021). Public health measures, such as lockdowns, accelerated the digitalisation of civic activities (Budd et al, 2020;Mao et al, 2021).…”

Digital Twin for Active Stakeholder Participation in Land-Use Planning

“…One of the current planning discourses centres on improving stakeholder participation and influence on land-use planning (LUP) measures. The inclusion of stakeholders in LUP helps to enhance planning processes, ensures responsible land-use planning, and finds balances between development needs and social life [1][2][3][4][5]. The underlining idea is that the LUP decision-making process should include people who will be affected by the planning intervention or those who will obstruct the process if they are not included [1,6,7].…”