Problems and prospects in community engagement in urban planning and decision-making: three case studies from the Australian Capital Territory

Abstract

Community engagement, both in general and in relation to planning matters, is a widely held value of modern governance. In Australia, community engagement is mandated at local government level across a wide range of policy and administrative issues, from health, to transport, to city planning. Numerous studies have, however, found that the reality falls well short of the ideal of meaningful citizen input into decision-making. Cases where government-sponsored processes have ‘made a difference’ are difficult to find. The reasons for this apparent failure have proved difficult to identify in detail. As a planned city with a highly educated population, Canberra should be a prime site for the involvement of citizens in many aspects of urban planning. The reality is that community engagement remains at the lower end of the scale of collaborative governance. Addressing this issue has led us to probe the nature of Australian Capital Territory governance and the developing contours of power in the city.

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