A Grounded Theory approach for deconstructing the role of participation in spatial planning: Insights from Nature Park Medvednica, Croatia

Abstract

Participation in spatial planning across Europe shows disparity between its legislative requirements and implementation, which is usually confined to practices that are devoid of influence in the decision-making process. This research tries to deconstruct the role of participation in the creation of a spatial plan for Nature Park Medvednica - Croatian nationally protected forest area and a Natura 2000 site. As the spatial planning process lasted for more than thirty years, this historical perspective allows for an assessment of the participation practices with respect to changing socio-political factors.The research design is rooted in Grounded Theory (GT), where data collection and analysis evolved in parallel until theoretical saturation occurred. Data sources include 51 interviews, meeting minutes and recordings from six public hearings, historical records, project documentation and expert studies focusing on Medvednica. The theory defined in this study links participation practices to its socio-economic framework, the outcomes of the spatial planning and the perceptions on the role of actors who took part in it – all performed through the lenses of the proposed 15 assumptions and 46 formal hypotheses. The test of this theory will be its future replication in different circumstances, fields and cultural settings.Results show a strong role of general socio-political factors affecting the design of spatial planning, which in turn shapes the role of participation. The most important general contextual factors include level of centralization of the state administration, level of urbanization and the culture of participation in decision-making processes, which was mostly exercised in the first process. In the last fifteen years, the participation in spatial planning for Nature Park Medvednica was mostly exercised as a legislative requirement while having very limited effect on the actual plan, and had a symbolic importance by legitimizing the urbanization process of the once forested area.