public participation, development, poltical process
While it is undeniable that design, zoning, and environmental topography all shape the urban landscape, urban development is ultimately a political process, and the urban landscape is a reflection of political decisions. In the past, planning typically was top down; Federal and State policies dictated land use patterns, and communities were usually designed and drawn from a singular mastermind (e.g. Daniel Burnham’s design for Chicago). However, planning today is much more decentralized, and moving towards public private partnerships – where local officials and residents are encouraged to work with private investors in building their neighborhoods. This project seeks to explore in depth the realm of public participation– how does the general public participate? Who participates, where do they come from, what is their occupation? How often do they participate? Is there a correlation between who participates and what form the urban landscape takes?
Taking a closer look at how local community members interact with private developers is important in determining whether or not these relationships are actually working in creating viable, sustainable communities that people are connected to. If these partnerships are facades that seek to provide the illusion of community involvement, then urban development will continue to be ruled by private interests that inevitably create disjointed communities.
Over the years, urban redevelopment has developed an infamous reputation for being insensitive, destructive, and ineffective. The academic consensus today is that in order to change said reputation, public private partnerships are necessary in order to balance community and economic development so that neighborhoods can thrive. This proposal attempts to examine the role of the public in these partnerships, whether or not individuals have any power in the redevelopment process, and if so, how much power they wield and in what ways their power is expressed in the urban landscape. This research will examine a particular public private partnership between the San Diego Redevelopment Agency and Price Charities working in the City Heights area where a 1,934 acre Redevelopment Project is underway. The research design is based primarily on archival data of past and ongoing PAC (Project Area Committee) meeting minutes, in-depth interviews with committee members, and surveys of new and old community members. This study will contribute to the conversation regarding the politics of redevelopment, in hopes of finding a healthy balance between conflicting interests in urban space.
In 1996, the City of San Diego and Price Charities jumpstarted redevelopment efforts in City Heights when they broke ground on the Urban Retail Village, one of many parts in the Redevelopment Area covering 1,934 acres in City Heights, a culturally diverse yet economically and physically dilapidated neighborhood. Taking notes from past redevelopment fiascos, this particular project is adamant about including public opinion in redevelopment decisions. This study examines the effectiveness of the Project Area Committee (PAC), an elected political body that provides a forum for participation for local residents, business owners, and any individual with interest in the project to voice their thoughts and concerns. The PAC is the most formal form of public participation, and by examining how City Heights’ PAC operates during this project, we can determine whether or not the shift towards participatory planning is effective in empowering already disenfranchised multicultural communities. The research design is based on archival data of past and ongoing PAC meeting minutes, official documents pertaining to the formation of the PAC, in-depth interviews with committee members and community experts, films and newspaper archives, and observational data of PAC meetings. Ultimately, this particular form of participation is only effective if its internal actors (PAC members) are committed to creating an inclusive committee, consistent in their intentions, open to innovation, and have the ability to maintain good working relationships with external actors in the redevelopment process.
Current research on neighborhood redevelopment efforts emphasizes the importance of including public participation in revitalizing dilapidated low-income communities and suggests that without it, equitable redevelopment is easily manipulated. Most literature focuses on the efforts of local non-profits and grassroots efforts, but there is little research done on elected, neighborhood-level bodies of participation that are mandated by the State. This case study research examines one such body of public participation specific to redevelopment, the Project Area Committee, in City Heights and evaluates whether or not the political nature of the PAC undermines its ability to fully represent the community’s interests and adhere to the Redevelopment Agency’s goals. The strategy of this research project relied heavily on PAC meeting minutes from the last 5 years, PAC formation documents, interviews, and observational data of PAC meetings. Through careful analysis, I found that PAC member attendance over the last five years has been decreasing, turnover has been increasing, and PAC member input generally doubled the amount of community input. Additionally, I found that there are mechanisms embedded in the PAC to prevent community interests from overriding business interests, but in certain cases, these mechanisms are not effective without the intervention of community input. Through interviews and observational data, I found that there is a disconnect between how PAC members see themselves and how others in the redevelopment process view their role and power. Overall, the findings were inconclusive; it is very difficult to assess the “effectiveness” of a Project Area Committee, and so long as they exist, it can only be assumed that they provide some unmeasureable benefit to the community.
The body of my research revolves around these three sources of evidence: data from PAC agenda minutes, in-depth interviews with PAC members and community experts, and my personal observational data. The City of San Diego luckily keeps PDF files of all agenda minutes on their website and is always accessible as long as I have internet and a computer; other helpful documents from the website include the initial guidelines to how the PAC was formed, the Redevelopment Agency’s development objectives, and the demographics of the area. Collecting this information is essential to providing a basic foundation for my research project, and I anticipate that this data will show that planning is inherently a political process, that requires commitment and understanding from its internal actors in order for it to be inclusive and yield the best results for its community. To get my interview data, I will meet with Steve Russell, a prominent voice in the San Diego mid-city region, whose contact information I received through a UCSD professor. Steve Russell is deeply involved in the North Park/City Heights communities, and will provide vital information on how redevelopment is working in this area, and I anticipate that he will legitimize the notion that “process is people” by providing anecdotes of his experiences with individuals who have made notable impacts in his particular redevelopment project, and what means they used to do it (i.e. whether or not the PAC helped these individuals further their personal agendas). Additionally, I will interview two PAC members, who I will meet at the first PAC meeting and interview at the 2nd (with permission), in order to gain insight on how interpersonal relationships within the PAC play a role in what agenda items are deemed important, and consequently, what suggestions actually reach the Redevelopment Agency and Price Charities partnership. Finally, I will go to 2 meetings myself (which are held the 2nd Monday of every month) to have a first hand account of the interactions between the PAC and outside forces to further the notion that, the ability to have open effective communications is essential to equitable redevelopment.
This project is a case study of City Heights.
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