Why community engagement matters: exploring the renewed appreciation of community engagement in the built environment sector

Over the last 30 years, the planning and the built environment sectors have been taking an increasingly keen interest in the mechanisms of community engagement. There has been a shift towards more citizen participation, and a renewed focus on dialogue and deliberation among stakeholders in the process of deciding priorities and actions. I strongly believe the best practice of community engagement improves the places where people live. Every person should be entitled to influence proposed changes to their neighbourhoods and have the opportunity to have their say. This article investigates three explanations for the shift towards more engagement and public participation. It will also discuss topics including the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, the 2022 local elections and the innovation of communications technologies.

As a newcomer to the sector, I have recently spent lots of time speaking to, and learning from, industry professionals. One, recently, told me that was not long ago that “community engagement used to be more of a tick box exercise”. And, now, “good community engagement is essential to any successful scheme”. It is interesting to me that I have joined at a time when public participation and engagement are more appreciated than previously. I want to explore the explanations for this shift to better understand our sector.

Approximately 15 years ago, Brian Head, a politics professor at the University of Queensland in Australia, identified the four main explanations for the global increasing popularity of citizen participation and community engagement. Firstly, the availability of improved communications technology; secondly, international shifts towards democratic governance; thirdly, an awareness of global issues and the need for local solutions; and lastly, the local politics of managing projects.

1. The advent of improved communications technologies

Improved communication technologies are a new dimension of community engagement. Today, accessing information about new planning proposals in your area is much easier than in the past. Online forums and social media groups offer residents a space to establish independent institutions and bodies outside of formal channels of engagement such as action groups, resident associations, and community groups. At ECF, we utilise digital tools to achieve meaningful, insightful and interesting engagement programmes.  

Software and engagement companies such as Loqiva, Bang the Table, and Hello Lamp Post are producing excellent software infrastructure to innovate how we interact with governance and the planning system. While we shouldn’t presume that every citizen has access to the tool because there is always a danger of a ‘digital divide,’ I would suggest that these digital platforms offer new opportunities to deepen the practice of community engagement.  

2. International political shift towards public participation

The political re-orientation toward more participatory forms of government has changed the context of planning. In the late 1980s, a new kind of governance emerged in Britain that altered the structure of our planning framework. It reimagined how government engages with society – this is often referred to by academics as the ‘Third Way’ (Giddens 1998). This new approach to government-society relations emerged as a centrist alternative to UK politics. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, governmental decisions emphasised processes for the inclusion of broad constituencies and disadvantaged groups. Inclusivity and social justice became key considerations in contemporary planning policy. By 2004, community engagement became a legal obligation for councils to publish their level of engagement with the public (Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004). In the early 2000s, international bodies such as the United Nations Development Programme and the OECD strongly advocated for the adoption of this kind of governance.

British planning policy continues to favour participatory governance. Last month, the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLHC) published their Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill. It signals the government’s intention to decentralise aspects of the planning system to give more power to individuals, communities and local authorities – introducing the ‘Street Votes’ system. This proposed system would permit residents to oppose development on their streets and hold a vote on whether it should be given planning permission. It will be interesting to learn from communities how this new system is received and who will take part in this new feature of participatory governance. 

3. Complex problems, local solutions

In this final section, I consider Brian Head’s last two explanations in tandem. Local authorities and bodies are gaining more influence to provide solutions to national problems and manage social, economic and environmental projects. Over the last 30 years, there have been consecutive periods of crisis. Whether that is referring to the oil crisis, the economic crisis, the housing crisis, the climate crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic or the cost of living crisis. By getting people involved early on a project, residents offer insider knowledge and localisms that can help successfully deliver a project that helps the people of that area. This trend is demonstrated by the proliferation of residents’ associations and online Facebook groups for neighbourhoods across the UK, and the increased number of independent seats in several regions following the 2022 local elections.

Conclusion

Community engagement is rarely discussed as political practice within our sector. I would suggest that practices of community engagement are embedded with implicit values of fairness, equality, and democratic decision-making. A few months ago, I had an interesting conversation with UCL exchange students from Hong Kong on Woolwich High Street. We had set up information boards on the corner of Beresford Square talking to people about how they would like the high street to be improved. The students were compelled and slightly surprised by what we were doing. One student said, “so people really stop and talk to you about this? You don’t really get that back home; they just keep walking”.  Listening in the planning process is not only about engaging communities, it is also about creating a more open, inclusive and just society.

How ECF fit into this discussion

ECF works together with local authorities and developers to facilitate conversations with local residents regarding any proposed changes to the built environment in an area. We meet with local people, gather public feedback, analyse it, and then report it back to the client.