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Does public participation slow down cities’ ability to make decisions quickly?

January 28th, 2014 · 68 Comments

I came across something recently that resonated, given the propensity of this council to make decisions quickly in the interest of achieving goals the mayor and his party set out for themselves. (Think: bike lanes, transitional housing, intervention into tanker issues, etc.)

This article, written about L.A.’s efforts to get a bike-share program, looks at the upside and downside of going with a lengthy public-participation process before decisions are made.

 

Academic theories are often criticized because of their disconnect from professional practice; what applies in the classroom may not apply in the field. However, had former Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villariagosa opened to page eighteen of James L. Creighton’s deeply academic The Public Participation Handbook, Los Angeles bike share might be a lot more than an elusive mythical creature.

Creighton_Theory copy

Creighton’s theory compares two types of decisions: Unilateral and Public Participation. Unilateral decisions result in a quicker decision being made, but implementation time can take significantly longer because of legal issues, controversy, or other delays. Conversely, a decision made with public participation increases the amount of time it takes to make a decision, however, that time and much more is made up in the implementation process. Thus, including more voices at the table results in a more efficient and timely process compared to unilateral decisions.

– See more at: http://bikeshare.com/2013/11/a-theory-could-have-helped-bring-bike-share-to-los-angeles-much-sooner/#sthash.pnqfbu8X.dpuf

Academic theories are often criticized because of their disconnect from professional practice; what applies in the classroom may not apply in the field. However, had former Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villariagosa opened to page eighteen of James L. Creighton’s deeply academic The Public Participation Handbook, Los Angeles bike share might be a lot more than an elusive mythical creature.

Creighton_Theory copy

Creighton’s theory compares two types of decisions: Unilateral and Public Participation. Unilateral decisions result in a quicker decision being made, but implementation time can take significantly longer because of legal issues, controversy, or other delays. Conversely, a decision made with public participation increases the amount of time it takes to make a decision, however, that time and much more is made up in the implementation process. Thus, including more voices at the table results in a more efficient and timely process compared to unilateral decisions.

– See more at: http://bikeshare.com/2013/11/a-theory-could-have-helped-bring-bike-share-to-los-angeles-much-sooner/#sthash.pnqfbu8X.dpuf

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