THE OPEN FORMAT AND CITIZEN PARTICIPATION IN TRANSPORTATION PLANNING

Recent developments in transportation planning and policy indicate that citizen participation and openness may receive less emphasis in the future in favor of more closed methods of decision making and control. Have the merits and drawbacks of citizen participation and openness changed significantly recently? This is hardly so. A survey revealed that the claimed advantages and disadvantages of the open format have been virtually the same since its early history. The evaluation of advantages and disadvantages, however, has changed. Citizen participation and openness are closely related to values and power, and the very existence of the open format is dependent on the kind of power that dominates societal development in a given period of time. When the open format was introduced, a general commitment to social reform, environmental issues, and democratization of decision making dominated societal development. The open format was a result of, and well in line with, this commitment, which explains its rapid development and spread. Today a commitment to efficiency, neoclassical economics, and budget cuts dominates development in many instances. The trend for openness is being reversed along with the trend for considering social, environmental, and ethical issues in transportation planning and policy.

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  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1984/991/991-003.pdf
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• Supplemental Notes:
  • 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. Publication of this paper sponsored by Committee on Citizen Participation in Transportation Planning.
• Authors:
  • Flyvbjerg, Bent
• Publication Date: 1984

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: References;
• Pagination: pp 15-22
• Monograph Title: Social and technological issues in transportation planning
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 991
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Decision making; Environmental impacts; Forecasting; Needs assessment; Public opinion; Public participation; Social factors; Transportation planning
• Subject Areas: Environment; Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; Society; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00450905
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309038006
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Feb 28 1986 12:00AM