A Holistic Approach for Fostering Community Engagement in the Decision-Making of Risk-Sensitive Urban Planning and Development

Geekiyanage, Devindi

Abstract

In the face of increasing extreme climate events, communities are often excluded from decision-making during pre-disaster and urban planning, despite their tacit knowledge and experience in disaster response and recovery. This marginalisation poses a significant challenge in creating safe, resilient, and equitable cities (SDG 10 and 11). To address this, there is an urgent need for governments to introduce and enforce processes that allow citizens, including vulnerable communities, to participate in development planning. Based in Sri Lanka, this study provides a holistic approach to fostering community engagement in risk-sensitive urban planning and development (RSUPD). The study adopts the constructivist grounded theory strategy, in conjunction with systematic reviews, followed by multiple qualitative analyses. Through 17 expert interviews and focus-group discussions involving 27 community participants, six key themes such as barriers, enablers, stakeholders, best practices, participatory methods, and community transformation indicators were identified with their relationships. The total interpretive structural modelling and matrix of cross-impact multiplication applied to a classification found that the absence of legal provisions for inclusive planning and political corruption are critical barriers to community engagement in RSUPD, while digital telecommunication infrastructure is a driving enabler. The two-mode social network analysis and stakeholder analysis shows that there is a need for the state agencies responsible for urban development and disaster management being accountable for promoting community engagement at the national level, while non-governmental and inter-governmental organisations have more power in empowering locals and therefore, they should enter into partnerships to play an active role in implementing inclusive RSUPD. The study introduced a tool with 40 participatory methods establishing that the lead agency should select engagement methods based on project phases, purpose and objective(s) of intended engagement, community context, scale, and local experience level, facilitating fair and effective engagement. Moreover, the KAP model provides practitioners with a strategy and 97 indicators for assessing locals’ knowledge, attitude and practice prior to and after engaging in RSUPD initiatives. By integrating all seminal findings, the study produced a four-stage holistic approach: setting-up community engagement through stakeholder collaboration and resource mobilisation; developing the participatory intervention; implementing the framed intervention; post-engagement community change evaluation. The verified approach comprised eight elements: a problem statement and goals, community context, inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes, impacts, and assumptions, ensuring its practical implementation at the ground. This study enhances understanding by presenting self-explanatory conceptual models for barriers and facilitators of participatory RSUPD. It outlines stakeholder roles and partnerships, offers an approach to engagement methods in RSUPD, connects community transformation with participatory development, and employs diverse analysis techniques to establish a grounded theory. Overall, this holistic and recursive approach provides valuable practical guidance for implementing participatory development practices and evaluation by clarifying and detailing how community transformation and consequent system changes can emerge through inclusive development.

Citation

Geekiyanage, D. (2023). A Holistic Approach for Fostering Community Engagement in the Decision-Making of Risk-Sensitive Urban Planning and Development. (Thesis). The University of Salford

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Nov 15, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 9, 2024
• Keywords: Climate change adaptation, Community change, Community engagement, Disaster risk reduction, Grounded theory, Participatory methods, Risk-sensitive urban planning, SDG 10 (Sustainable Development Goal 10), SDG 11 (Sustainable Development Goal 11), Urban de
• Award Date: Dec 8, 2023