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What is being used to include communities in Regional Planning visions and does it work?
Deciding Our Futures: Engaging in Regional Visions
Abstract:More and more cities are choosing to implement a Regional Visioning Effort to help guide them into the future. Most efforts state community engagement and involvement as a major factor that they choose to focus on, but how much is the community really incorporated into this process? What methods are used to achieve public participation, what works? This study looked at the factors that regional visioning efforts are focusing on, if any, in terms of community involvement, with a focus on implementation, length of involvement, availability of information, and the degree to which they include these in their visioning efforts. This was done through qualitative research using archival analysis of three Regional Visioning Efforts and interviews with experts involved with these efforts. Through this process it was found that Regional Visioning efforts are claiming that they involve the community to a great extent, while there are some that go above and beyond, most involvement has a primary focus on planning meetings. The public isn’t provided with a variety of choices when it comes to participation and there needs to be an even greater focus on community involvement in the future.
Regional Vision Plans help form a blueprint for our future communities…• Three Regional Visioning efforts were examined.• Interviews were held with a representative from each of the
three examined plans.
Help shape San Jose, CA going into 2040 by combining a regional vision with a general plan.
Envision San Jose 2040
Extensive public engagement process to help shape Portland for the next 20 years.
Vision PDX, Portland
Helping to plan for sustainable prosperity.
Chicago Go To 2040
Addresses Community Participation
Implementation of Community suggested data
Legality Addressed
Community involvement throughout the entire process
Community involved through a predetermined process
Community got involved on their own
Public informed of the efforts
Public access to information
Envision San Jose 2040
4 4 5 3 5 2 4 4
Portland Oregon’s Regional Visioning Plan
5 4 3 5 5 5 5 5
Chicago 2040 Regional Planning Vision
3 5 5 4 5 1 3 3
Findings: What is being done to engage the community?
Main Methods Used
Surveys
Online Tools
Public Meetings
Selected plans rated on a scale from 1-5
Background:Stemming from The San Diego Foundation’s Our Greater San Diego Vision project this study looks into other regional visioning efforts around the country. Regional Visions are an important aspect of helping design our futures, and the people of a community should have the opportunity to have a say in their futures.
Methods:• Selected three regional visioning efforts from
across the country to focus on. • Evaluated these plans based on predetermined
factors, and combined this data into a table (Table 1).
• Contacted and held interviews with a representative from each of the chosen regional visioning efforts to help gain even more insight into the community engagement process that was implemented in each vision.
Key Sources:InterviewsBrilliot Michael. Senior Planner for Envision San Jose 2040. December 2, 2011Aleman Erin. Principal Planner at the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning. January 9, 2012Cohen Cassie. Portland Vision PDX Team member. January 23, 2012 Regional Vision Documents “City of San Jose Planning Division Envision San Jose 2040.” Web. 27 Jan 2012. http://www.sanjoseca.gov/planning/gp_update/“Regional Vision -- Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning.” Web. 27 Jan 2012. http://www.cmap.illinois.gov/regional-vision“Vision into Action.” Web. 27 Jan 2012. http://www.visionpdx.com/
Majna DukicUrban Studies and PlanningUniversity of California, San Diego
Conclusion:The research suggests that the best method to engage communities in regional planning visions is to use a combination of public meetings, surveys, and online tools. Regions tend to depend on a single tool, like public meetings, to engage communities but they need to consider the potential negative effects or barriers that may arise from only using one type of engagement. Engagement is cited as a priority in many visions, including the three looked at in this project, and the process needs to be refined and considered from many different angles if we want the vision to be truly representative of the community’s wants and needs.
“Communities should have a say in their futures”-
Public Meetings• Pros: Gather large amount of people, allow people to engage with others and voice concerns in person.
• Cons:Time and availability barriers and diversity of people attending the meetings.
Online Tools• Pros:Potentially reach large amount of people, can make interactive tools to encourage participation.
• Cons: Access to the Internet, online tools, and reaching the intended audience can be challenges; these tools may not reach the entire community, especially those in lower income communities.
Surveys• Pros: Can span across a large geographic region. Can be open-ended questionnaires where people can do more than simply check a box.
• Cons: Timing is important, have to send out surveys early in order to get them back in time for the information to be useful for the project. Return or reply rates might be low if people are not thoroughly encouraged.
Table 1: Summary of collected data from regional vision plans.