Facilitating Online Participatory Planning During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Bibliographic Data

ID21476854
AuthorsDan Milz (0000-0002-8108-7800, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa), Atul Pokharel (0000-0003-0596-5525, Wagner College), Curt D Gervich (0000-0002-6913-4977, SUNY Plattsburgh)
Year2024
Volume90
Issue2
Pages289-302
Publication date2024-04-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of the American Planning Association (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0194-4363 • E-ISSN: 1939-0130
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/01944363.2023.2185658
OpenAlexW4362606937
LanguageEN
Citations received9
References cited52

Problem, research strategy, and findings The COVID-19 pandemic temporarily shifted participatory planning processes from face-to-face to online meetings. Prior to the pandemic, public participation included online components, but only in support of face-to-face public meetings. Thus, there was very little guidance for practitioners on how to design and host online public meetings. We interviewed 32 professional planners and facilitators with experience hosting public meetings during the summer of 2020 and asked them to discuss their experience moving their practices online. We expected to see drastic changes in how these professionals approached their work, but our expectations were only partially met. Instead of revolutionizing participatory planning, online meetings only required modest adjustments to the practices used in face-to-face meetings. Our findings are limited because they represent a narrow window in time. More substantial changes to participatory planning practices may have taken place because of the pandemic and may not be reflected in our interview data.Takeaway for practice Face-to-face and online meetings may not be as different as popular opinion suggests, and many of the practices that planners have used to host face-to-face public planning meetings could be applied to online meetings. Moreover, the successful transition to online meetings during the pandemic also suggests that remote public meetings are a viable and legitimate option for participatory planning processes

Citizen journalism · Environmental planning · Face-to-face · Geography · Pandemic · Participatory GIS · Participatory planning · Political science · Public participation · Public relations · Sociology · Disaster Management and Resilience · E-Government and Public Services · Engineering · Innovative Approaches in Technology and Social Development · Medicine

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