The document describes Open Planning, a digital tool created through a collaboration between Lancaster University and local partners to enhance civic engagement in the urban planning process. It involved developing a prototype Open Planning App over 18 months with £15k in funding. The goal was to improve public participation by connecting citizens to planning information and discussions through a digital platform, addressing issues like limited notification and data access that citizens experienced previously. The prototype tested features for notification, accessing meaningful information, and facilitating dialogue, though challenges remained around data availability and balancing stakeholder needs. The project demonstrated the potential for technology to enable systemic change and connect people's everyday lives to public services.

1. Open Planning!
- digital tool for civic engagement in the planning system-
Lara Salinas!
Lancaster University!
!
l.salinas@lancaster.ac.uk!
@LaraCSalinas!
!
http://thecreativeexchange.org/projects/open-planning

2. 2. Collaboration!
Lancaster University
University of Liverpool
Independent office planner
Red Ninja Studio
!
Engage Liverpool
Liverpool Vision
(2nd) Liverpool City Council
3. Open Planning!
6 months & £15k
March 2013 - Oct. 2014
4. Prototype!
Open Planning App (beta)
1. Public Service Innovation
and Democracy
digital public space where anyone,
anywhere, anytime can access, explore and
create with digital content

3. efficiency!
(Rittel & Webber 1973)
"art and science of
ordering the use of land
[...] to secure the
maximum practicable
degree of economy,
convenience and beauty"
!
– Keeble (1952:9)
public
participation
(Brabham 2009)
urban planning:

4. "Planning must be a
creative exercise in
finding ways to enhance
and improve the places
in which we live our lives.
This should be a
collective enterprise."
!
– DCLG (2012:ii)
efficiency
(Rittel & Webber 1973)
public
participation!
(Brabham 2009)
urban planning:

5. “it is time for new citizen
participation methods
in public planning”
!
– Brabham (2009:259)

6. aims: enhance the planning system!
• by connecting citizens' everyday life with
public services a systemic change in the
planning system is possible (Salinas et al.
2014)
• successful collaborative relationship:
bottom-up & top-down!
• prototype tool for civic engagement:
connect physical place & digital content

7. planning system
in Liverpool
digital media
applied to urban
planning
open data
define & locate problem
1.
policy framework
meetings with LPA
focus group citizens
benchmarking
rapid prototypes
04-06!
2013

8. planning system:
21 days period of
public consultation
planning process
!
public
consultation
application citizens!
8 - 16 weeks 3 weeks

9. 21 days of public consultation:
notify inform engage
"you go on holidays for 3
weeks and you miss it"
"I can't find useful
information"
"the comment box is just
for complains"
– Citizens (Salinas, 2014)

10. policy framework:
• shift power from centres of power to citizens
• access to relevant information is a prerequisite
to community engagement
• digital technology for open debate
Empowerment
White Paper (2008)
Open Data
White Paper (2008)
• appropriated format
• co-operate with civil society, business and
academics to create agile, creative and
innovative measures into public service
Killian Pretty Review (2008)!
NPPF & Neighbourhood Planning (2012)
Taylor Report
(2012)
• web-based open source resource
• professional & wide public
• actively managed & crowd-sourced maintenance
• digital notifications

11. digital media applied to planning
map-based mashups: Planning Finder (2013)
PGIS: I Wish This Was (Chang, 2010)
e-government: FixMyStreet (2007) crowdsourcing: Spacepacehive (2011)

12. prototype: design iterations (Porter 2013)

13. prototype: design iterations (RedNinja 2013)

14. access database or data scraping
!
Jun 2013 - Jun 2014
!
data owned by local planning authority
data is held by a third party company
!
"open data, but not quite useful data"
(RedNinja, 2014)
!
!
on the web
structured data
nonproprietary formats
(Berners-Lee 2006)
!

15. define and locate the problem:
public consultation process!
• improve notification process
• provide meaningful information
• facilitate open dialogue
!
LPA response!
• LPA collaboration but limited resources
• LPA resistance to change
!
balance between LPA & developers & citizens

16. prototype
co-design workshop with citizens
meetings with LPA
field trial
2.
evaluation
questionnaires
event with users
03-10!
2014

17. co-design workshop
notification!
physical notation
digital
filter by proximity
filter by affinity
meaningful information!
friendly language
user generated content
mixed media
before & after
data (images)
active engagement!
open dialogue
share social networks
LPA feedback
value outcomes
!
urban events

18. prototype
notification!
physical notation
digital
filter by proximity
filter by affinity
meaningful information!
friendly language
user generated content
mixed media
before & after
data (images)
active engagement!
open dialogue
share social networks
LPA feedback
value outcomes
!
urban events
!
-
!
ok
no data
!
no data
-
-
no data
-
!
ok
ok
-
-
!
-

19. prototype
notification!
physical notation
digital
filter by proximity
filter by affinity
meaningful information!
friendly language
user generated content
mixed media
before & after
data (images)
active engagement!
open dialogue
share social networks
LPA feedback
value outcomes
!
urban events
!
-
!
ok
no data
!
no data
-
-
no data
-
!
ok
ok
-
-
!
-

20. prototype
notification!
physical notation
digital
filter by proximity
filter by affinity
meaningful information!
friendly language
user generated content
mixed media
before & after
data (images)
active engagement!
open dialogue
share social networks
LPA feedback
value outcomes
!
urban events
!
-
!
ok
no data
!
no data
-
-
no data
-
!
ok
ok
-
-
!
-

21. prototype
notification!
physical notation
digital
filter by proximity
filter by affinity
meaningful information!
friendly language
user generated content
mixed media
before & after
data (images)
active engagement!
open dialogue
share social networks
LPA feedback
value outcomes
!
urban events
!
-
!
ok
no data
!
no data
-
-
no data
-
!
ok
ok
-
-
!
-

22. prototype
notification!
physical notation
digital
filter by proximity
filter by affinity
meaningful information!
friendly language
user generated content
mixed media
before & after
data (images)
active engagement!
open dialogue
share social networks
LPA feedback
value outcomes
!
urban events
!
-
!
ok
no data
!
no data
-
-
no data
-
!
ok
ok
-
-
!
-

23. (preliminary) conclusions
• demonstrate that a systemic
change in the planning system
is possible (Salinas et al. 2014)
• successful collaborative
relationship: bottom-up & top-down!
• prototype for civic
engagement: connect physical
place & digital data, to connect
citizens' everyday lives with
public services
• policy & citizens &
benchmarking back up Open
Planning's concept
• change the set of values that
currently supports the system
(Tewdwr-Jones & Allmendinger 1998)
• it's possible! Open Planning
App is a proof of concept, but
its potential is yet to be
achieved

24. learning process
• lack of understanding of the
system, including data
• bottom-up & top-down meet:
find the balance!
• from consultation to
participation
• action & research: don't stop
each other & meet
• trust building: either time or
well known local expert,
prototypes & time
• resource constrains? rapid
prototype

25. Open Planning!
- digital tool for civic engagement in the planning system-
Lara Salinas!
Lancaster University!
l.salinas@lancaster.ac.uk!
@LaraCSalinas!
http://thecreativeexchange.org/projects/open-planning