| There is scant documentation and evidence of the benefits of public engagement in local government decision making in urban planning. Using Putnam's research regarding regional, civic engagement as the theoretical foundation, this study explored the cooperative efforts between local governments and community members to determine whether there are benefits associated with community-government partnerships. The specific research question guiding this study explored whether there are ways in which public participation affects local government outcomes in urban planning policy and decisions and what evidence of successes or failures are directly linked to public participation. The Delphi process was used to collect and analyze data from 3 rounds of recorded telephone interviews with 14 open-ended questions. Purposive sampling involved 12 government staff from the mayoral, council, and planning offices, as well as from 11 persons from community groups, in metropolitan areas. Responses were clustered, categorically themed, and frequency ranked. Findings indicate that public participation builds support for and helps inform and shape government priorities, projects and decisions such as land-use, development, and open space decisions. Weaknesses in government public participation programs include missing perspectives from the diverse population; and increased cost and slower pace linked to public involvement. The study contributes to positive social change by documenting the value and limits of public collaboration with government that may result in better policy decisions. |
