Methods and Challenges of Community Participation Practices in Planning Public Open Spaces: A Review

Abstract

The formation of public open space is an essential element in the existence of cities and neighborhoods. Public open spaces are defined as social locations, such as streets, parks, and local neighborhoods, and are spaces where individuals or groups encounter and interact with one another. Community participation in public open space planning can provide opportunities for potential interactions in the decision-making process to help stimulate social cohesion. Thus, community participation in public open space planning is crucial to producing good public spaces for the community. This paper presents a synthesis of over 20 studies ranging from 1990 to 2023 on community participation in the planning process. It examines community participation practices in public open space planning to identify the methods and challenges of community participation in the planning process.The paper is based on a review of literature. A keyword search was conducted on the databases Web of Science (WOS) and Google Scholar to identify research studies in peer-reviewed English-language journals published between 1990 and 2023.It shows that community participation has become widely practiced in planning, although its aims and outcomes are contested. On the one hand, community participation is expected to empower the residents, while on the other hand, it can also be an instrument of social control. Moreover, community participation has faced many challenges and obstacles that limit its application; these obstacles vary depending on the nature of community composition.