The influence of the urban model on civic involvement and public time. A study applied to the commuting population of the Greater Metropolitan Area of San José, Costa Rica

Abstract

A major problem for policymakers is to ensure that levels of citizen participation reflect the society in its diversity, but they must also ensure that those citizens who want to get involved have the means to do so. Despite empirical evidence of the role of urban planning in health, well-being, and livability, studies have not delved into the implications of how low-density sprawled urban forms influence civic involvement. This paper adds new evidence regarding the significance of urban form, built environment characteristics and more in general city planning, as intermediary factors between public and private life connected to civic engagement and public space use. Based on surveys and geographic data from the Greater Metropolitan Area of San José, in Costa Rica, the article investigates how the results of citizen participation change depending on whether residents are from a compact or dispersed study area, relating to urban rhythms and mobility metrics. Findings suggest that inhabitants of group A (lower-density neighborhoods) differ significantly from group B (compact-city areas) in four variables: means of mobility, commuting time, public space use, and civic activism, while having similar sociodemographic composition. Compared with residents of group A, group B report higher levels of use and knowledge of public spaces and civic participation. These two aspects constitute, the Urban Civic Participation Index, which, related to self-reported free time, forms what we define as Public Time. The main characteristics of the compact city (higher population and building density, high street connectivity, grid presence and proximity of services, mixed land use) were found to be positively related to the outcomes of accessibility to public space and community participation. In contrast, there are no significant differences in the availability of free time between the two groups. This study, along with others on the compact city, shows that there are other reasons to reduce daily commuting distances in cities and the need of urban time policies to redesign urban society's temporal dimension besides the known environmental impacts. It also raises the question of how low urban density affects people's time and disposition to participate in public life.