Listening to the City Public Participation and Group Facilitation in Redeveloping the World Trade Center Site

Governmental decision makers, politicians, civic groups, and other stakeholders in public decision making are seeking mechanisms for engaging citizens in public policy decisions. The size and visibility of "Listening to the City," the largest face-to-face public participation event ever held, and the political, social, and emotional needs that it responded to, provide an attractive opportunity to draw attention to broader issues regarding public engagement, group facilitation, and the future of democracy. This special issue provides an in-depth case study of "Listening to the City" and uses it as a departure point for broader discussions of the role practice of public participation. Reflecting the diverse backgrounds and experience of the 25 contributing authors, which include both academics and practitioners, the content is descriptive, evaluative, and speculative. The first three articles present a thorough description of the underlying philosophy, organization and implementation of "Listening to the City," a large-scale public participation event involving 5.000 face-to-face and online participants. The design was purposefully "high tech" and "high touch: " these articles make clear how this was accomplished. The next eleven articles present a variety of perspectives on the event, based on the experiences of facilitators who worked with groups of participants. Some are personal reflections on the role of facilitating public participation; some offer practical advise for working with diverse groups, some are evaluative. The remaining eight articles take a critical look at public participation, examining its purposes and effectiveness