National Workshop on Inclusive Cities and Center-staging Citizen Participation

With a view to deliberate on strategies for citizens’ and stakeholders’ participation in urban planning, a national workshop on “Inclusive Cities and Center-staging Citizen Participation” was co-organized by PRIA, CEPT University and Unnati at CEPT University, Ahmedabad, on 12-13 November 2009.

The workshop aimed to bring out a framework for preparing policy and guidelines to ensure citizen participation in urban planning and project planning processes. The participants deliberated on opportunities and challenges of citizen participation in urban planning. Planning experiences of CEPT University, EPC Consultants, Unnati and All India Institute of Local Self Government (AIILSG) were shared in the workshop. PRIA, Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action (YUVA), Mumbai, Town & Country Planning Organization (TCPO), Kollam, Kerala, and School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), New Delhi, shared their experiences of citizen participation in preparing Master Plan. Based on the experiences, four working groups were formed, which submitted their recommendations on the second day of the workshop. It was decided to document significant issues from the whole deliberations and also to prepare a working paper on the themes.