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Comparative Participatory Planning and Community Development

Comparative Participatory Planning and Community Development

What are the impacts of participatory planning on community development and community building? As local communities become increasingly vulnerable in a global political economy, there has been an upsurge of policies and discourse on community building and participatory planning. This course examines the outcomes of participatory planning programs on community development. We start by problematizing our assumptions about community and working definitions of community development. Planners worldwide face the challenges of implementing community development in the context of rampant socio-economic and environmental inequalities. This course will evaluate participatory planning interventions and effectiveness in promoting community building, social justice, and sustainable development. We will employ case studies from a variety of countries to assess participatory planning practices in areas such as housing, local economic development, and public resources allocation. To explore the relationship between participatory planning and community development, we will use scenario analysis to probe the role of participatory planning paradigms in promoting social justice and the organizational capacity of communities. As a group, we will inventory the methods and techniques of participatory planning and design; that inventory will allow us to reflect upon the standards for participatory planning and community development.

School(s)/College(s)
Arch. and U.P. (Taubman) » Urban and Regional Planning
Course Number(s) UM Course ID Academic Level Credits Sustainability Category*
URP 523 046966 Graduate 3 Sustainability-Focused

Academic Terms

YearSession(s)
2023Fall
2022Fall