New Book: Case Studies in Participatory Planning and Community Building

Posted by on March 16, 2015

Building Together: Case Studies in Participatory Planning and Community Building
by Roger Katan

Participatory planning, far from being a fashionable or politically correct form of practice, is probably the only approach that can achieve a communityand#8217;s goal for security, shelter, stability and human happiness.

With case studies of neighborhood developments from North and South America, Europe, and Africa that span more than forty years, Building Together offers essential understanding of participatory, collaborative processes that support civil society and sustain democratic cultures. It includes large-scale urban projects such as and#147;Listening the City,and#8221; which engaged more than five thousand New York citizens in the rebuilding effort after the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, and smaller appropriate-technology architectural projects such as self-help assisted housing on Tumaco island at the southern tip of Colombia, South America. Although the cases in this book appear to be highly disparate, involving very different communities and contexts, they were all inspired by the same overarching goaland#151;to help people, whatever their socioeconomic status, better understand the forces acting upon them and organize themselves to have a true say in the construction of their environments.

http://www.powells.com/biblio?inkey=1-9781613320167-1&PID=43325&PID=43325