2008 - Citizen Participation and the Internet in Urban Planning

For the first time in human history, a majority of the world's population lives in urban areas. In the United States, not only do the majority live in urban areas, the overall population is projected to grow by 100 million by 2040. This urban growth will require unprecedented efforts by urban planners to engage communities and stakeholders in the planning of new buildings and infrastructure. Modern information and telecommunications technology, particularly the Internet, provides planners with new tools to facilitate citizen participation in planning.

In order to propose a model for the use of Internet technology to support sound urban development efforts, this paper examines the e-government movement, American planning participation history, and planning participation theory. It concludes with a outline of a new model of Internet-centered citizen participation in urban planning.

Images/Documents

RGoodspeed finalpaper .pdf