Citizen Participation in Informal Settlements; Potentials & Obstacles - The Case of Iran, Shiraz, Saadi Community

Authors: Hamid Mohammadi Makerani

Abstract:

In recent years, “Bottom-up Planning Approach" has been widely accepted and expanded from planning theorists. Citizen participation becomes more important in decision-making in informal settlements. Many of previous projects and strategies due to ignorance of citizen participation, have been failed facing with informal settlements and in some cases lead physical expansion of these neighbourhoods. According to recent experiences, the new participatory approach was in somehow successful. This paper focuses on local experiences in Iran. A considerable amount of people live in informal settlements in Iran. With the previous methods, the government could not solve the problems of these settlements. It is time to examine new methods such as empowerment of the local citizens and involve them to solve the current physical, social, and economic problems. The paper aims to address the previous and new strategies facing with informal settlements, the conditions under which citizens could be involved in planning process, limits and potentials of this process, the main actors and issues and finally motivations that are able to promote citizen participation. Documentary studies, observation, interview and questionnaire have been used to achieve the above mentioned objectives. Nearly 80 percent of responder in Saadi Community are ready to participate in regularising their neighbourhoods, if pre-conditions of citizen involvement are being provided. These pre-conditions include kind of problem and its severity, the importance of issue, existence of a short-term solution, etc. Moreover, confirmation of dweller-s ownership can promote the citizen engagement in participatory projects.

Keywords: Bottom-up Planning, Citizen Participation, Informal Settlements, Local Resources.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI): doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1078963

References:

[1] Website of the American Planning Association; Available: http://www.planning.org/careers/
[2] C. Mussel, P. Kreisl, and A. Vettermann, Kassel, Nordstadt. Available: http://www.Sozialestadt.de
[3] Soziale Stadt , Info 14 ,Activation and Participation in Germany, The newsletter devoted to the federal-land Socially Integrative City Programme, 2003.
[4] M. Ardeshiri, "Regularising Plan of Saadi Community", Shiraz, 2003.
[5] Iranian Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, Strategies for Enabling and Regularising Informal Settlements,Tehran: Urban Development and Rehabilitation Organization, National Task Force For Enabling Informal Settlements, 2004, pp. 4-8.
[6] Iranian Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, Enabling and Regularising Informal Settlements, City of Zahedan, Tehran: Urban Development and Rehabilitation Organization, National Task Force For Enabling Informal Settlements, 2004, p.14.
[7] Maab Consulting Engineers, "detailed plan of shiraz city-district 3", Tehran, 2003.
[8] A. Alavitabar, Study on Pattern of Citizens- Participation in Managing of Cities, Vol. 1, World and Iranian Experiences, Tehran: Iranian Municipalities Organization, 2000, pp. 38-50.
[9] A. Alavitabar, Study on Pattern of Citizens- Participation in Managing of Cities, Vol. 2, Empirical Findings and Strategies, Tehran: Iranian Municipalities Organization, 2001, pp. 137-139.
[10] H. Mohammadi Makerani, Citizen participation in urban planning;potentials and obstaclesÔÇöthe case of Iran, Shiraz, Saadi community, Ph.D dissertation, Dept. Urban Planning, Kassel Univ., Kassel, Unpublished.
[11] Statistical Centre of Iran, A Nation-wide Census of Population and Housing, Tehran, 1996.