Making connections in urban planning: a case study of Bubny-Zátory in Prague
Author: Aneta Soukopová, aneta.soukopova@fsv.cuni.cz
Department: Department of Sociology
University: Charles University, Czech Republic
Supervisor: doc. PhDr. Dino Numerato
Year of completion: In progress
Language of dissertation: Czech
Keywords:
civic participation
, urban planning
, actor structure
, social network analysis
Areas of Research:
Social Transformations and Sociology of Development
, Participation, Organizational Democracy and Self-Management
, Social Movements, Collective Action and Social Change
Abstract
Civic participation and democratization have recently played an important role in urban planning. This paper explores these phenomena by focusing on the actor structure and civic engagement in urban planning of the Prague district of Bubny-Zátory, which is one of Prague's largest brownfield sites. This dissertation thesis draws on previous scholarship in the areas of civic participation and urban planning. The research aims to analyse the dynamics of urban planning by exploring the agendas of the diversity of actors who participate in the project planning process. The study uncovers the social network structure that connects a particular set of actors and the related perceptions, beliefs, and involvement in decision-making and actions more broadly. The goal is to better understand the form and place that citizen participation takes in the whole process of the Bubny-Zátory project. The main research tool is qualitative network analysis, which reveals different actor groups that are characterized in part by shared history, culture, and collective ties with other actors (Knoke, Yang 2008). The analysis draws on dozens of semi-structured interviews with actors and participant observations. The interviews also involve the creation of visual materials and mental maps of the actor structure. To also understand the online space of shaping discussions about the city, an element of quantitative web analysis was added to the research design to track the actor structure on social networks (Twitter/X). The study reveals the communication and power structures of urban planning in Prague, shows the spaces through which citizens could intervene in the process and, thus, point out the possible limits of the setting of citizen participation in Prague. The research has the potential to have policy implications for the city of Prague. The mixed methodology of the study also opens academic discussions of qualitative network analysis as a suitable tool for exploring broad and complex topics with multiple actors with different agendas, such as in urban planning or other public policy areas.
