Inclusive Participation in Planning in the UK

The aim of this book is to offer guidance and inspiration for inclusive participation in planning, which, if done properly, can deliver immense social, environmental, economic and cultural benefits. This book is built on the belief, backed up by a growing body of research, that inclusive participation in planning holds the key to designing buildings and places that look and feel different, that are fit for purpose, improve wellbeing, reduce wastage and help build more resilient communities. Participation as a process offers opportunities to connect, learn, share and create new, more positive, narratives of place. It is a foundation for democracy, helping to change the tide of political apathy, particularly amongst young people, rebuilding faith in the social contract between communities and authorities.Aimed at planners, built environment professionals and anyone interested in a more effective planning system, this book sets out current best practice in delivering well designed and effective face-to-face and digital public participation in planning. It argues for deep, long-term engagement with communities during, and even before, any planning process to ensure that projects are built on evidence of local need. Anticipating a move towards a more automated planning system, the authors advocate a citizen science approach in which communities contribute in real time to data about their places through the creation of publicly available maps as an aid to decision making. Focused principally on the UK context, the book will nevertheless be of interest to professionals involved in planning decisions throughout the world, as well as students and researchers engaged with the discipline.The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) 4.0 International license.