Public Participation and Community Development: The Role of Strategic Planning

In: Public administration quarterly, Volume 28, Issue 1, p. 102-147

Abstract

Communities increasingly adopt decision aides like strategic planning as a way to clarify their role in local development. Many public administrators have integrated public participation into this planning process. This article examines the link between public participation and strategic planning. Sustainability requires local resources and strategies so public participation seems critical and essential. A case study approach explores links between local development activities and community strategic action plans laid several years earlier, and most importantly, determines the role of public participation in those connections. This paper attempts to answer a series of basic questions on the structure of strategic plans developed by communities. Do strategic plans facilitate community development? Does participatory strategic planning increase local development and sustainable activities in a community?