“People-Centric Urbanism: A Framework for Public Participation in City Planning and Governance”

“Towards Smart and Sustainable Urban Management in Rezvanshahr: Leveraging Local Capacities for Economic, Social, and Spatial Values”

“Participation” is a keyword that has continuously been present in urban planning literature over the past forty years and has played a role in shaping urban planning processes and patterns. Most of the urban planning concepts and patterns related to the concept of “participation” have been designed after the decade of development (1960s) and particularly from the 1990s onwards. Other related concepts, such as collaboration, cooperation, and contribution, which all translate as synonyms in Persian, have also emerged or been strengthened during these time periods. Patterns such as “public and private participation” are among the emphasized practical patterns in this field. Despite the diversity and breadth of the concept, what is crucial in the context of participation in the urban sphere is the presence and involvement of people in the planning process. This principle has been experienced in various forms in different cities around the world.

Without a doubt, people’s participation in the planning process is deeply dependent on social and economic characteristics and is influenced by the presence of participation-oriented actions. Therefore, different patterns can be identified in this area in different cities around the world. In the field of urban management in Iran, although the concept of participation has been institutionalized in the theoretical dimension, it faces significant challenges in the operational dimension due to dominant top-down processes and complicated bureaucratic administrative procedures. As a result, a suitable and practical framework that can facilitate public participation in identifying and solving urban problems has not been systematically and cohesively provided by urban management so far. In other words, empirical studies of Iranian cities’ experiences in public participation show that most of the activities carried out in this field have been ad hoc and influenced by the perspective and opinion of individuals or groups within the management structure, resulting in lack of sustainability.

The idea and concept of “People’s City” is designed based on the diagnosis of the challenges of public participation in urban planning and implementation processes, aiming not only to promote participation but also to institutionalize a permanent platform for participation in urban management and planning structures. In the pioneering report, the first operational step of “People’s City” in Rezvanshahr, Gilan, as a pilot city, is described in detail. The results and outputs mentioned in this report will be used as inputs for the second step of People’s City soon. The formation and implementation of the second step of People’s City will serve as a consolidating process and a permanent pattern of public participation at the level of small cities

In the case of Rezvanshahr studies, in addition to physical issues in the urban environment affected by the weaknesses of basic urban infrastructure such as road quality, lighting, etc., there are also issues related to the active functions and economic and social impacts on stakeholders and existing social problems in the urban community. According to the approach of these studies, the focus is on the issue based on local capacities. This means that in this approach, the mere identification of the problem and efforts to secure managerial resources outside the existing economic and social mechanisms in the urban community have no place. In the approach of asset-based development, the spatial and physical assets, economic and financial values inherent in the target city, and the social capacities affected by the urban settlement area are a set of assets that, if ideas and decision-making programs are based on them with an emphasis on disrupting existing structures and processes, can create invaluable values in local economic and social areas.

Therefore, in this research, analytical and decision-making processes and proposals are presented based on a multidimensional approach to the city’s assets and local capacities, with the aim of achieving sustainable and comprehensive development in Rezvanshahr.