Public participation as an instrument for incorporating local knowledge into planning processes

Public participation in planning relates to involving the public in planning processes, and encompasses many types of participatory practices whose objectives are to enable better understanding of residents' genuine spatial needs, perceptions and desires (i.e., local knowledge), and to catalyze their incorporation into planning decision-making processes. Nonetheless, in many cases, participatory planning deliverables don't reflect local knowledge, and in some cases even conflict therewith, compromising community sustainability and residents' quality of life. The question arises: Which participatory practices are most efficacious in capturing local knowledge and incorporating it into plans? Case studies of various participatory processes conducted in Israel clearly show that unidirectional participatory procedures used by jurisdictions do not capture genuine local knowledge, nor do they incorporate it into plans. Alongside this, the findings demonstrate how collaborative initiatives enhance the ability to extract local knowledge and incorporate it into planning. This study provides a better understanding of the elements affecting the ability of public participatory practices to enable incorporation of residents' preferences, ideas, opinions, desires, and needs into plans. Introductory