La participación en la formulación de los planes de desarrollo y ordenamiento territorial: hacia un modelo de participación ciudadana en el caso del Plan Cantonal de Cuenca

Abstract

Participatory planning is not rhetoric neither a simple institutional requirement to be fulfill, it is a process where the main character is not the social subject not even the technical subject, instead it is a process where any subject is immerse in a network of stakeholders and actions. In Ecuador, participation in planning processes implies several changes in old state structures, changes that must ensure democratic participation in decision making at any level/context within government. It is important to include the citizenship participation in the formulation of development plans and land planning considering this as a space of social and political construction in which coexist mechanisms of democratic consolidation and management tools.

It is important to evaluate the participation process in the “Plan de Desarrollo y Ordenamiento Territorial del canton Cuenca” (Development and Land Planning of Cuenca) focusing in the quality of the participation and in the criteria related to good practices, always considering relevant and critical aspects.

Citizenship participation requires co-responsibility of stakeholders, which behave in networks acquiring active functions for the implementation and evaluation of the expected results of the plan. In order to succeed in a participatory land planning it is important to study: a) Relevant aspects • Organization of citizenship • Citizenship control • Degree of involvement of stakeholders • Degree of involvement of technical, social and political instances • Capacity to foresee economical, organizational and time costs. b) Critical aspects • Main axes: Who participates? What is the subject? How to participate? • System: participation in all phases of the process • Implementation: clear rules, consensus, tools, mechanisms, spaces, leadership (political, technical, social, communication). • Legitimacy of public decisions Finally, this thesis proposes an operational methodology for the participatory process considering several phases and fundamental activities that pursues legitimacy, pertinence and efficiency of participatory planning.