Following on historic new powers granted recently to cities across England, RIBA and ResPublica have published a new paper arguing for greater collaboration with local communities in neighborhood planning, writes Irina Vinnitskaya.
The new report, "Re-thinking Neighbourhood Planning: From consultation to collaboration" [PDF], authored by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and ResPublica, an independent, non-partisan UK think tank, responds to the "dramatic power shift" initiated by the recent passage of the Localism Act, "which transfers
power away from big government to local authorities and communities."
According to Vinnitskaya, "The paper...discusses the value of 'real community-led planning' in which
professionals, developers, local authorities and communities create
partnerships in preparation for planning and design work. The report
supports community engagement and outreach, investing in the belief that
partnerships and collaboration will bring trust and understanding to
the relationship between planners and the communities that their
policies affect."
The paper discusses the benefits of community collaboration and suggests methods by which to encourage such participation.
"In order to emphasize the possibilities of the Localism Act, the paper
suggest two ways in which Neighborhood Planning can be taken to the next
level:'A Community Right to General Assets' and 'A Community Right to
Invest in Real Estate', both of which suggest ways in which people
within a community can become part of the investing and decision-making
body."
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