Between Realism"" and ""Idealism""：Participatory Planning of the NTUBP Foundation in Yilan""
Date Issued
2016
Date
2016
Author(s)
Rui, Guang-Ye
Abstract
Abstract The concept of participatory planning comprises two parts, namely the ""political value"" during ""participation"", and the practicability during the planning process. The definition of participatory planning has been controversial and is regarded as an idea of complexity over the past few decades, and there is no standardized mode of operation, either. This idea has been interpreted differently as it begins to be widely accepted as a tool (with the exception of the organization pursuing economic and efficient rationality). Previous researches regarding participatory planning usually discuss its policy aim and focus on particular empirical studies. They explore the pros and cons of such method during application or try to profile it by unveiling the experiences in one case. They fail to shed light on the political and economic framework which is so deeply related to participatory planning. This paper therefore selects not one particular case, but the organization practicing and dedicating to the method of, and embracing the value in participatory planning as its subject of investigation. The Yilan studio affiliated with the NTUBP foundation will be the core of discussion. This paper will first explore the factors supporting the durability of Yilan studio’s practicing participatory planning for more than twenty years. Second, it analyzes the participatory planning`s influence on local society. Finally, it tries to answer the question ""why participate"". To this end, the author combines the theory of ""Translation"", ""Urban Regime"" and ""Organizational Sociology"" to propose ""Participatory Translation"", as an interpretation model for participatory planning. This model is formed by the translation of ""knowledge"" and ""public imagination"", and a process called ""power and shared responsibility "". The common core supports to sustain translation, and together they move forward in a spiral progress. Several reasons contribute to the long-lasting practice of Yilan studio’s participatory planning method. Firstly, Yilan studio pays close attention to people and is willing to face conflicts. It is from this process that the studio shapes its professionality and develops its sources of demand among the public, and hence establishes its own supportive ""social network"". Secondly, Yilan studio has been maintaining a ""half involved and half detached"" relationship with the regime of the local government. Its involvement enables it to own bargaining power on the allocation of public resource, and to be endowed with the preemptive position when intervening in the community. Meanwhile, by remaining somewhat detached, the studio upholds its subjectivity when carrying out pubic value. Thirdly, the indigenous knowledge and professional strengths accumulated over a long period of time enables the studio to integrate resources from multiple social components and governmental institutions. Lastly, the ""learning by doing"" pattern in participatory planning constructs a pluralistic participant network from within, since the planning method requires the studio staff to be highly saturated with the social net work of the studio. In sum, the participatory planning method of Yilan studio has witnessed its impact in the development f local society, as it plays the role of mediator or translator. It has affected people’s sense of participation in public affairs in their everyday lives. As embodied by the Yilan studio, it can be said that the participatory planning is in itself a daily social activity.
Subjects
Participatory planning
Yilan studio
Participatory translation
Professional governance
Publicness
Type
thesis
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