Web-Based Community Planning

by Paula Dohnal

November 18, 2009

Written by Heather Szapary

In Tuesday's session “Back to the Future: The Role of Community Planning in Brownfields Redevelopment,” speakers described their experiences using traditional and technological techniques to get citizens engaged in directing their communities’ future. The speakers were Nick Bowden and Dave Ciaccio with Community ReDesigned, Jody Kass of the nonprofit New Partners for Community Revitalization, Inc., Tom Treharne, Planning Director for the City of Marion, and David Dixon from Treadwell & Rollo. The speakers shared a wealth of diverse planning and scientific knowledge.

Nick Bowden asked the audience: What if there was a virtual planning process? There would be a virtual advisory committee, a Web platform for ideation and prioritization, and open-source community planning. Website visitors would upload a video of what they want to see in the plan.

Community ReDesigned will do just that for Richmond, Indiana, in the coming months. The benefits of this approach are a wider reach, interactive conversation, and cost efficiency.

There were mixed reaction to this leap into the future from the audience and speakers. One participant wondered about skewed results caused by repeat virtual citizens. Bowen assured him that the program is designed to notice if the same IP address is used multiple times. Another audience participant asked about low-income and elderly access to the web. Bowden responded that in the short term this method has to be a supplemental feature. He also asked whether the audience thought planners reach those groups in traditional planning processes.

In support of the virtual method, a participant stated that she used Facebook during a local comprehensive planning process to receive input from the 20- to 30-year-old population, who are rarely reached. Tom Trehame helped his city conduct a corridor plan addressing all of the properties along the corridor. He did the same thing using Facebook and e-mail blasts, but when it came time for the public hearing, those younger people were not physically there to support the plan.

Ultimately, the virtual "what if" was deemed a great supplemental method of outreach. Jody Kass, who works with environmental justice communities in New York, emphasized the need for community members to be at the same table and on equal ground as government leaders. Audience participants echoed this thought stating that “personal communication builds community itself.”