Designing a public engagement process for long-term urban park development project

Abstract

Gathering public consensus about long-term urban open space development is more difficult than ever, even though public engagement is crucial for sustainable long-term policymaking. Routine evaluation of public awareness is important for retaining project momentum and designing appropriate public engagement processes for the future. This study focuses on the Yongsan Park Development Project, which has been in progress for more than three decades. An online survey of 2,000 respondents was conducted and analyzed to evaluate the current public awareness and ask questions about respondents’ expectations for public engagement. The results of this study reveal that 1) a hybrid methodology is needed to effectively approach different age groups; 2) an online survey can offer new insights for projects that repurpose U.S. army base and military sites into urban open spaces; 3) the survey results will enable us to design a better public participation process that is appropriate for post-pandemic society, in which virtual meetings and socially distanced communications are part of the new norm.