Project: Master Thesis - M.Sc. in Urban Planning and Management 



Title: FROM ABOVE.

Public Participation in the Planning Process of the Aerial Cable-Car in Complexo do Alemão – Rio de Janeiro

​Supervisor: Patrick Driscoll

Co-supervisor: Bo Vagnby

Aalborg University 2012 (with 3 months of data collection and analysis in loco)

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This project is about participation in the planning process of the aerial cable-car in Complexo do Alemão, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

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It grounds its theoretical basis on some of the writings of John Friedmann about alternative development and empowerment, and pulls it up to debate with other theoretical perspectives related both with what is participation, what can block participation from reaching empowerment, and on the specific case of what can block participation from reaching empowerment in the favelas. 

In order to build the a critical analysis and interpretation of the case-study, the theoretical basis support the analytical framework of the context, and build the empirical assessment of the findings. The open planning model of Bent Flyvbjerg and his conceptualization of misrepresentation and misinformation are key points for the construction of a debate around what is participation on the specific case study, and on the contribution for the understanding of how participatory processes may find implementation constraints, limits, but also strategies and challenges.

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May Participation within the implementation of top-down programmes on specific societal development, be considered a disempowering process?

 

link to project here