Public Participation in Preparing Community Development Plans (Case Study: Amir-Abad, Golha Neighborhood)

The present era can become an epoch in which public participation in planning and decision-making process and the future of urban community leads to a situation in which urban planners and public cooperate together in urban planning and community development plans. Turning ideas and participation theories in urban planning into practical techniques and approaches is very crucial because as long as these theories do not be objectified, they can’t be implemented. Moreover, according to diverse institutional and legal considerations in different countries, application of these techniques must be proportionate with these conditions. However, in Iran, practical approaches capable of turning theories and ideals into reality are not present yet. Accordingly, studying different aspects of public participation and trying to implement them is essential. In this paper after a brief investigation of participation theories, it has been tried to implement these theories introducing and benefiting from current techniques in pioneer countries in the field of participation. The main goal of the project selected as our case study, namely Amir-Abad, Golha neighborhood, is increasing quality of life using participatory approaches. The proposed factors are: safety and security, efficient transportation system, access to services, walk-able urban space and identity. It has been tried to use different methods to achieve participatory approaches. These are utilized in various steps of the project, filling questionnaires, interviewing with stakeholders and etc. in cognition step, using SWOT matrix in analysis step and setting up public hearings in designing process. The questionnaires were based on place check technique and quality of life criteria because place check can provide a focus for bringing people together to work in collaboration and can identify what is needed to be done in order to improve the place. This research shows that public participation is based on a non-elitist view of social progress. Good ideas are always generated from community, so ignoring people in urban plans leads to alienated public which feel that their views has been ignored and the plan has been imposed upon them. Successful participation process in urban plans in different environmental, social and economical conditions requires applying various levels and techniques of participation. The most important role of a planner in leading public participation in an urban plan is selecting the appropriate approaches and implementing them according to context and cultural terms. One of the findings of this research is that some of participation techniques cannot be implemented in our case study, so we tried to find out which approach is the best so that we can carry out a good participatory process. To achieve the mentioned goals, this paper has been presented in four sections. In the first section important theories in public participation will be investigated. In the second section three theories about levels of participation will be expressed. The third section offers prevalent techniques for benefiting from public participation in urban plans. At the end the outcomes of a practical experience in preparing community development plan in Amir- Abad, Golha Neighborhood will be presented.