Participatory spatial planning process on the example of Poznań City

Abstract

In the last several years a new approach to city management can be observed in Polish cities, and it takes into account elements of public participation (participatory governance). New, often non-statutory forms of the participation and representation of citizens are also being introduced into the decision-making process relating to spatial planning.

The purpose of this article is to show the current state of the socialization of the local planning process in Poland. The article tries to answer the question of how to strike a balance between the specialized knowledge of the planners and the contribution that inhabitants bring to the process. Taking the example of Poznań City, the existing forms of public consultations and their impact on the content of planning documents were evaluated. To achieve this goal, the results of participants’ observations during the public consultations and their surveys were used. A diverse activity of the city inhabitants was observed, depending on the type of local development plans and interests, often of particular residents and their representative social organizations. The need to improve the decision-making process in urban planning was highlighted, taking into account alongside the traditional the new forms and tools of social participation (e.g. public participatory GIS ). Their use will increase the range of consultations and inclusion of so far under-represented
groups of residents of the City.