Public participation in urban development: a case Nagpur city

Abstract

The Oxford dictionary defines participation as "to have a share in" or "to take part in", thereby emphasizing the rights of individuals and the choices that they make in order to participate. Increased participation is needed to conquer an imbalance in access to information and to influence decisions. Vigorous citizen participation programs can benefit managing agencies by reducing conflicts, by improving public understanding and by helping managers assess public attitudes. Urban Planning is an example of the need for community participation, for it affects everyone. The idea of an ideal community Participation can be traced back to Jean Jack Rousseau. As a reaction to his experience of the urban public of the eighteenth century, Rousseau developed a political philosophy based on the ideal community. In this philosophy Rousseau dreams of: A society where all people are aware of existing opportunities for effective participation in decision making, they believe participation is worthwhile, and they participate actively in a society that is bound together by collective decisions. In this society, the role of participation is exactly that men “not law” should rule, and therefore be ruled by the logic operation of the political situation that they themselves have created. According to Dr. David Harvey, author of the book ‘Rebel Cities: From Right to the City to Urban Revolution’, the role of the planner is to facilitate the provision of information on basic decision-making structure to open up the public space not just in the physical sense but as a public sphere in dialogue and negotiation for the empowerment of the general citizen. The study area selected for the purpose of this thesis is Nagpur City, in Maharashtra, India. Nagpur is governed by Nagpur Municipal Corporation since 1951, and Nagpur Metro Region Development Authority (NMRDA), formerly, Nagpur Improvement Trust is the Urban Development Authority. The area of Nagpur is 217.6 sq km. Nagpur is divided into 10 zones which are further divided into 136 wards for administrative purposes. This thesis is a study of the citizen engagement strategies employed for the Smart Cities mission in Nagpur city. This thesis intends to explore the potential of Public Participation in Urban development in the contemporary Indian scenario, by understanding the process of communication between the citizens and authorities, identifying barriers to effective two-way communication and developing strategies to overcome such barriers.