TECHNOLOGY FOR CITIZEN PARTICIPATION IN PLANNING

Experiments involving a certain technique on citizen participation in community planning were conducted in 200 group meetings in a great variety of settings. By means of special voting technology and meeting procedures, the experimental technique allows every participant to make an anonymous coded response to questions posed by the moderator or another participant and to observe instantaneously a tally of how many people voted in each category. The technique permits a rapid appraisal of consensus and controversy; it allows participants to reveal their ignorance, deal with controversial questions without intimidation, and generally make the discussion more responsive to the real interests and needs of the group. In some cases, quantitative procedures are used to rate alternatives against criteria and find group utilities, but mostly these procedures are regarded as an augmentation of normal free discussion and idea formulation rather than a means for commitment to final decision. These techniques are evaluated as a function of type of topic and questions used, the personality and experience of participants, the style of the moderator, and other factors including rapidly increasing capabilities for large-scale community communication, such as those provided by 2-way cable television./AUTHOR/

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1975/553/553-004.pdf
• Summary URL:
  • https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=TECHNOLOGY+FOR+CITIZEN+PARTICIPATION+IN+PLANNING&author=T.+Sheridan&publication_year=1975
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0309024579
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Publication of this paper sponsored by Task Force on Interactive Graphics. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Authors:
  • Sheridan, Thomas B
• Conference:
  • 54th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board
  • Location: Washington District of Columbia
  • Date: 1975-1-13 to 1975-1-17
• Publication Date: 1975

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; References;
• Pagination: pp 30-43
• Monograph Title: Application of Interactive Graphics in Citizen Participation
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 553
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: City planning; Communications; Computer graphics; Evaluation; Experiments; Public participation; Quantitative analysis; Technology
• Uncontrolled Terms: Criteria; Interactive graphics
• Old TRIS Terms: Substitutes
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Economics; Highways; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00129956
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309024579
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: May 14 1976 12:00AM