Urban planning, public participation and digital technology: App development as a method of generating citizen involvement in local planning processes

Abstract

There has been a recent shift in England towards empowering citizens to shape their neighbourhoods. However, current methods of participation are unsuitable or unwieldy for many people. In this paper, we report on ChangeExplorer, a smart watch application to support citizen feedback, to investigate the extent to which digital wearables can address barriers to participation in planning. The research contributes to both technology-mediated citizen involvement and urban planning participation methods. The app leverages in-situ, quick interactions encouraging citizens to reflect and comment on their environment. Taking a case study approach, the paper discusses the design and deployment of the app in a local planning authority through interviews with 19 citizens and three professional planners. The paper discusses the potential of the ChangeExplorer app to address more conceptual issues, and concludes by assessing the degree to which the technology raises awareness of urban change and whether it could serve as a gateway to more meaningful participatory methods.

Engaging the Senses: The Potential of Emotional Data for Participation in Urban Planning

“…In addition factors such as the time required of citizens to participate often results in apathy among citizens [6], so that actual participation rarely represents a majority of inhabitants or involves the full range of stakeholders [7]. Digital technologies can address some of the issues of participation in the urban planning process by enabling a more accessible system for the public to shape their neighbourhood's future [8]. Munster et al outline potential advantages of digital participation which include the use of wider pool of knowledge through broader audience and participants, which creates an interactive and communication-oriented planning process [9].…”

“…To do this, we first review the literature on the urban planning process, showing how the development of the discipline has sought to enable citizen participation. This is mapped against Arnstein's 'Ladder of Participation' to highlight how much of this participation typically does not enable citizens to control and act in the process, and is therefore the participation Digital technologies can address some of the issues of participation in the urban planning process by enabling a more accessible system for the public to shape their neighbourhood's future [8]. Munster et al outline potential advantages of digital participation which include the use of wider pool of knowledge through broader audience and participants, which creates an interactive and communication-oriented planning process [9].…”

Engaging the Crowd

“…Creative and innovative approaches, in particular, tend to enhance community participation (Cilliers et al, 2011). The theory and practice of engagement tools for urban planning, such as workshops and town-hall meetings, have been broadly discussed among scholars (Wates, 2014;Nanz & Leggewie, 2016) and the various forms of e-participation (Wilson et al, 2017;Kleinhans et al, 2015) and digital participatory tools have already been described in multiple studies. Most tools can be used for face-to-face and online participation and approaches have been developed in tandem with the use of such tools, which differ from traditional engagement methods.…”

Let’s draw and talk about urban change: Deploying digital technology to encourage citizen participation in urban planning

“…When pursuing or undergoing urban change, citizens are vital as they experience everyday life in neighbourhoods and live with the consequential impact of changes, giving them a unique perspective to observe, comment upon and offer suggestions for the future (Baker et al, 2007). Although citizen participation in planning is recognised as important, there are difficulties with enacting opportunities (Wilson et al, 2019). These difficulties include trading off the costs and time required to participate and citizens accessing the often complex language of planning (Baker et al, 2007).…”

“…For these reasons, only a small proportion of citizens actually engage with urban change through the planning system (Conroy and Evans-Cowley, 2006). Many engagement methods, often termed 'traditional' in the literature, include writing letters and attending public meetings but these present their own barriers (Wilson et al, 2019). Alongside these difficulties, communities are often involved too late in urban planning debates, when development plans are already in place (Baker et al, 2007).…”