A memorable picture is one that successfully embodies a story in a single visual stroke. Urban planners can use visual strokes to convey a sense of a place told from the perspective of those that live there. Each story is a layer within the context of place, each contributes to the picture as a whole.
Building a community scenario can be difficult because multiple views and values must be considered. Gathering a multitude of stories during a community meeting is nearly impossible. Opening the floor for everyone to speak turns a two-hour meeting into an overnight sleepover. How can planners give everyone an equal opportunity to tell their story to portray a cumulative picture from which focal issues emerge?
Community discussion tools can promote turnout and feedback for an improvement effort. Planners can support community storytelling through a web site using Google maps, image sharing, oral histories, and discussion boards.
The “Imagine New York” public visioning process invited people from all over the world to share their vision of the World Trade Center site’s future. Professional architects and planners were invited to submit drawings and designs to a community bulletin board and image gallery. Community members were invited to tell their unique stories on the web site through blog posts and image galleries. It was the ideal public participation tool because it reached the largest audience possible and supported over 16,000 image entries and visions that were narrowed down roughly to 50.
Communities are more likely to approve development plans if they have a role in shaping it. Beyond the physical community meeting, there are many ways to invite others to participate. Online tools can play a valuable role in gathering stories during visioning and guide the outcome.
Google Maps
Google maps helps you pinpoint key locations in a neighborhood. A community map can be created using Google maps to show key locations.
You could allow community members to upload images and place descriptions on your map during the visioning process. Comments and experiences can be collected and evaluated at a later phase.
Image Sharing
Share photographs or drawings about a neighborhood or a project with an image gallery that supports multiple users. A multi-user image gallery allows community members to upload images to an account. Each member’s gallery contributes to entire gallery of photographs collected.
An image sharing component would most likely appeal to those that are tech savvy. This is a way to garner feedback from a younger generation of users who would otherwise not participate in the planning process by attending community meetings.
Oral Histories
An oral history does not have to be a historical document, it can be a narrative captured on an audio device. Hearing a story from the first person perspective is a powerful story telling tool.
A video recorder or digital recorder can be set up at key locations in a community to capture the story of those that would rather tell their story than write or illustrate it. The personalized accounts can be easily transcribed and added to the site or formatted and placed in a media library for future reference.
Discussion Boards
A discussion board enables planners to solicit specific feedback by posting a question and engaging in an ongoing dialog. A forum allows users to respond to specific issues or options. It helps members to engage in a continuous feedback loop. This tool can support visioning, FAQs, and plan documentation.
These tools are not difficult to deploy and use. They seem to have less than desirable use by planners for several reasons. Planners are not fully aware of all the technologies available to them. They don’t know how to install them and customize them, so the process of implementation must be demystified. Community members must request these tools to be available and apply pressure to government to provide them. Awareness of specific technologies from both sides will result in more stories being told and more views incorporated into plans that effect every community member.
Building a community scenario doesn’t have to be difficult. Stories can be told in person, in writing, through pictures, and on video. Planers can give everyone fair chance to be involved in the building of their community.
