Planning as if People Matter by Marc Brenman

Author:Marc Brenman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Island Press
Published: 2012-03-06T16:00:00+00:00

TRANSPARENCY

If the information and analysis that government agencies provide to the public is to serve its purpose of enabling them to participate meaningfully in the decision-making process, transparency is an essential attribute of the information and analysis. For planning organizations, transparency refers to an open, understandable, and timely public participation process (Wolf, Sanchez, and Farquhar 2007). A continuous and accessible flow of information from public planning organizations to the public is the basis of transparency. Well-documented practices that include a wide range of internal and external communications methods are vital for stakeholders to understand processes leading to decisions. Again, trust is built when organizational activities are open to checks on accountability. Transparency occurs only with conscientious effort on the part of an organization, because additional energy is required to document and convey management and staff activities that produce planning outcomes. Transparency is diminished in the absence of accurate and continuous information, and where the information that is provided does not include the information that has been requested. Propaganda and misleading information ruin transparency. Gossip, rumor, and innuendo can damage transparency and credibility, which go hand in hand.

On the other hand, transparency can also be lost in the sheer quantity of information, as a needle can be lost in a haystack. This is a particular danger in the context of government agencies that produce reams of paper and hundreds of webpages every month. Transparency, therefore, requires that information be presented in a manner that is both concise and complete. An incomplete presentation that fails to surface important facts, assumptions, concerns, or alternatives is lacking in the integrity that the public needs in order to have its voice heard in a meaningful participation process.

Transparency is especially important with regard to community and neighborhood groups, for several reasons. These include the highly technical nature of many planning analyses, and the lack of technical expertise or support in community and neighborhood groups. There may have been bad-faith communications in the past between government agencies and communities, which means that government agencies may be starting their new relationship in a hole. This has been especially true in infrastructure decisions about transportation, education, housing, sewerage, and zoning. Transparency also implies effective communication, which is needed to build trust between governmental agencies and community groups. The consequences of a lack of transparency can be severe, and include confusion from lack of information and divisiveness, eventually leading to distrust, which can completely undermine the public participation process. Community opposition can build, leading to loss of funding, consumption of time, investment of energy by government agencies in crisis management, lawsuits, legal liability, and embarrassment.

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