Forces are aligning to increase polarization and tension in public dialog, and planners are increasingly caught in the middle. A recent workshop with 100 engagement experts resulted in a free eBook to help planners detox their public involvement.
The Changing Public Engagement Landscape
- The biasing and organizational impacts of social media,
- The growing divide between income groups,
- The polarizing political tensions, and
- The dehumanization of the opposition.
While all these trends can play a significant role (and there are undoubtedly others), perhaps the most dramatic has been the influence of social media on public opinion and the mobilization of opposition. We have reached a point where even the CEO’s of social media firms are admitting responsibility. Most recently Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, announced measures to address his firm’s role in poisoning democracy.
Imagine if ten years ago you were told that by 2018 the majority of news and information people see would be curated specifically for them based on their current views and interests. Moreover, conflicting information would be made more difficult to find. This process of curation—which describes your Facebook news feed, your customized search engine results, and other social media streams—is driven in part by a desire to keep your attention and thus, in crude terms, expose you to more advertising. It’s well-known that people tend to navigate away more frequently if exposed to conflicting information. The result of this curation is a dramatic increase in polarization as people become increasingly convinced about their views.
The polarizing effect of this curation is only one part of social media’s influence on public discourse. Social media has also provided the public with easy access to tools to mobilize like-minded people to influence almost any cause or project.
Key Success Factors for Public Participation
Aware of increasing tensions, I organized a workshop at the International Association for Public Participation Annual Conference in the fall of 2017 to tap into the wealth of experience in the association’s membership.
The workshop drew together 100 of most skilled and talented public engagement practitioners in a working session. Together, we compiled a set of key success factors and strategies that planners and public engagement teams can use to detoxify public engagement.
Hopefully you will find these insights valuable and will join the growing list of practitioners contributing to the dialog about how to improve community engagement. Download a free copy of the eBook, Facing Contention: 21 Tips to Detox Public Engagement.
Depopulation Patterns Get Weird
A recent ranking of “declining” cities heavily features some of the most expensive cities in the country — including New York City and a half-dozen in the San Francisco Bay Area.
California Exodus: Population Drops Below 39 Million
Never mind the 40 million that demographers predicted the Golden State would reach by 2018. The state's population dipped below 39 million to 38.965 million last July, according to Census data released in March, the lowest since 2015.
Chicago to Turn High-Rise Offices into Housing
Four commercial buildings in the Chicago Loop have been approved for redevelopment into housing in a bid to revitalize the city’s downtown post-pandemic.
New Park Opens in the Santa Clarita Valley
The City of Santa Clarita just celebrated the grand opening of its 38th park, the 10.5-acre Skyline Ranch Park.
U.S. Supreme Court: California's Impact Fees May Violate Takings Clause
A California property owner took El Dorado County to state court after paying a traffic impact fee he felt was exorbitant. He lost in trial court, appellate court, and the California Supreme Court denied review. Then the U.S. Supreme Court acted.
How Urban Form Impacts Housing Affordability
The way we design cities affects housing costs differently than you might think.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Town of Zionsville
Write for Planetizen
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.