- The participatory planning paradigm shift: Comparing disciplines and methods   374 kb by    Le Roux, Jan Hendirk & Cilliers, Elizelle Juanee | 21655405@nwu.ac.za    Short Outline Public participation has experienced a paradigm shift over time with contrasting approaches emerging from it. These approaches are visible in different professions and disciplines. By comparing different disciplines it is possible to create best-practice scenarios for effective public participation. Abstract Public participation is a process where the public is involved in decision- making, regarding planning aspects that interests and affects them. There are various benefits for Town Planners and other professions when increasing the inclusion of the public in the decision-making process, especially in terms of development issues and creative thinking. Advantages include the improvement of the effectiveness of plans, the resolving of conflict by enhancing consensus between stakeholders and the building of social capital (Smith, 2003:25). Along with the advantages are also certain challenges and limitations, regarding public participation, Town Planners have to deal with the choice of participants, practical implementation of theoretical ideas and in certain cases dealing with the unrealistic expectations of the communities. This study firstly focuses on the paradigm shift public participation has experienced over time and the contrasting approaches that emerged from it (Smith, 2003:22). This study further focused on how public participation is defined and executed in different professions and disciplines. The opinions, methods and problems, regarding public participation, as used in Planning, Health Sciences and Geography in South Africa, was evaluated and compared. International methods and approaches were also taken into consideration in an attempt to create best-practice scenarios. Lastly the application of new and computerized methods within the public participation arena was investigated (Al-Kodmany, 2001:10). The pros and cons of these methods were compared with traditional methods to derive whether computerized methods are beneficial within Town planning. The research concluded with recommendations to enhance the successfulness and effectiveness with regards to the current public participation approaches in South Africa, based on the collective results and findings from the various perspectives and disciplines, as well as the findings regarding the effect of computerized methods on participatory processes. Reference list: Al-Kodmany, K. 2001. Visualization tools and methods for participatory planning and design. Journal of urban technology, 8(2):1-28. Smith, B.L. 2003. Public Policy and Public Participation: Engaging Citizens and Community in the Development of Public Policy. Atlantic Regional Office: Health Canada:22-36. Keywords Case Study presented on the ISOCARP Congress 2013: Frontiers of Planning - Evolving and declining models of city planning practice   Click to open the full paper as pdf document   Click to send an email to the author(s) of this paper