JSR

Public participation is an important aspect of local planning and development because it can make an outstanding contribution to the human environment and sustainable development. Previous studies have examined various facets of such public participation, notably including its practical impacts on individual cases. Few if any, however, have looked at it from the viewpoints of those members of the public who participate. This study helps fill that gap by exploring public participation in the process of adding sidewalks to a community in Taiwan, utilizing in-depth interviews to capture public participants’ motivations, perceptions, and attitudes connected to that process. We found that people’s key motivations for participation were to protect their own rights and interests, to improve the quality of their living environment, and to create a safe walking environment. Public participation recognizes the necessity and demand for adding sidewalks and the importance of creating a safe walking environment, and hopes to solve the problem of insufficient parking spaces. Their attitudes toward participation, however, varied considerably depending on their subjective views, opinions, feelings, identities and roles. The results of this study have important implications for the pro-motion of public participation in urban-infrastructure enhancement and for human-centered development more generally.

public participation; sidewalks; human-centered environment; environmental governance