Highlights Governments require public participation for transportation planning and implementation. Participation generally relies on individuals to express their opinions. We argue that using individual expression alone can exclude forms of collective participation. Public involvement needs forums for collective political contest.
Abstract Citizen involvement in transportation planning is typically modeled on a liberal democracy in which individuals express their preferences about a project. In this paper we present an analysis based on interviews with stakeholders whose involvement was grounded in a complementary model of public participation, one in which an organized community used collective action (instead of only individual expression), and worked both within and outside of the formal public involvement process to influence the design of an arterial highway in their neighborhood. This case reflects a commonplace context for public participation: residents opposing a highway expansion and the negative effects of heavy traffic in neighborhoods. The problem presented in this case is that the process for citizen involvement was not designed to fully utilize the community’s collective capacity. Three aspects of collective action—representation, the ability to shape a policy agenda, and methods of engagement—were contested in the public participation process. We argue that these conflicts around collective action in the public participation process exposed its “one-way communication,” and enabled a different kind of political process in which neighbors’ organizing was powerful and influenced decisions.
The politics of collective public participation in transportation decision-making
Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice ; 78 ; 537-550
2015-06-29
14 pages
Aufsatz (Zeitschrift)
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch
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