METHOD

Citizen Participation Program (CPP)

July 23, 2018 Scott Fletcher Bowlsby
July 2, 2018 Lucy J Parry, Participedia Team
August 24, 2017 hmadenian

A specific system of public participation used predominantly in the United States. CPPs provide a top-layer of communication provide a stable, sustained forum for government bodies, community organizations, and residents, on issues of planning and development.

Note: the following entry is a stub. Please help us complete it. 

Problems and Purpose

First implemented in Portland, Oregan, the community participation program model is used predominantly in instance of sustained, citizen-lead or involved urban planning and upkeep. The CPP is essentially an institutionalized mechanism of public participation in local planning projects and its procedures draw on or incorporate numerous other methods such as neighbourhood management and community-based monitoring. Unique to the CPP is its governmental recognition and institutionalization. Existing 'on top of' or alongside existing activities and processes of government , the CPP provides a stable channel of communication between disparate actors such as municipal bodies, community organizations, neighbourhood associations, and individuals.[4] The CPP is essentially an institutionalized mechanism of public participation in local planning projects and its procedures draw on or incorporate numerous other methods such as neighbourhood management and community-based monitoring. [1]

Origins and Development

The first community participation program was developed in Portland and was adopted in a slightly modified form after hurricane Katrina by the non-profit Committee for a Better New Orleans.[2] The system is also used in a number of other American municipalities including Birmingham, Alabama; Atlanta, Georgia; Charleston, South Carolina; and Dayton, Ohio.[3]

Both the original CPP and its New Orlean's offshoot were designed in response to public demands for more representation and participation in city projects affecting their communities. Once in place, the CPP provides a forum for the discussion or review of any planning or development project with the potential to impact local residents or neighbourhoods. In using the CPP, affected parties (government officials, community representatives, business interests, etc.) commit to a process of extensive outreach and dialogue so that community concerns can be raised and addressed by project developers before implementation.[1]

Participant Recruitment and Selection

How it Works: Process, Interaction, and Decision-Making

Influence, Outcomes, and Effects

Analysis and Lessons Learned

A lot of citizens in New Orleans don’t know about the CPP even though the Committee for a Better New Orleans does outreach activities. As well, the CPP operation is currently not funded even though part of the model has been taken by the city such as an early notification system of neighbourhoods. A Neighbourhood Engagement Plan has been set up by the city in order to get quality input from communities on projects.[2]

See Also

New Orleans Citizen Participation Program (case)

Neighbourhood Management (method)

Community-Based Monitoring (method)

References

[1] Adler, Sy, and Gerald F. Blake. “The Effects of a Formal Citizen Participation Program on Involvement in the Planning Process: A Case Study of Portland, Oregon.” State & Local Government Review, vol. 22, no. 1, 1990, pp. 37–43. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/4354975. 

[2] CBNO - Committee for a Better New Orleans. (2012). Website of CBNO Citizen Participation Program Retrieved from http://www.cbno.org/programs/citizen-participation-program/ 

[3] Community Participation Project, "Other CPP Models," http://nolacpp.org/other-cpp-models/

[4] Community Participation Project, "About the CPP," http://nolacpp.org/about-cpp/

External Links

http://www.cbno.org/programs/citizen-participation-program/

https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/new-orleans-citizen-participation-project/

Notes