Space for dialogue : practical handbook about how to lead public participation in spatial planning

Public participation means involvement of individuals, groups and local communities in public decision making. In the last few years an evolution of understanding the public participation in city management can be noticeable in Polish cities. The handbook tries to answer the question of how to lead public participation in spatial planning, with the focus on the contribution that citizens bring to the process. The aim is to provide practical knowledge about public participation in spatial planning (at the local government level), including good practices in this eld. The handbook consists of ten chapters. The rst three chapters gives an introduction to the theory of public participation in spatial planning. Fourth of them describes the de nition of public participation in spatial planning. The fth chapter shows forms of participation in current law conditions of Polish spatial-planning system. Sixth chapter deals with all the questions and doubts about process of public participation in spatial planning: its actors, advantages, limitations and problems. As a consequence, chapter sixth shows the principles and practical hints on social consultations organization. Next chapter describes the new forms of methods and tools of participation. Eighth chapter refers to main principles and examples of good practices in new participatory approach in Poland. Ninth chapter traces the results and evaluation of three processes of spatial planning regarding public participation (examples from Gorzów Wielkopolski, Trzebinia and Poznań) with a focus on SWOT analysis. The last chapter deals with a number of recommendations on how to strengthen the existing framework of local authorities cooperation in the eld of public participation in spatial planning.