Advocacy planning

Advocacy planning is a citizen participation method for the determination of legal aspects in planning of secure public spaces. The concept emerged in response to a critique of 1960’s mainstream physical planning such as large-scale urban renewal schemes and its disregard of social capital and established community structures. The contemporary purpose of advoacy planning is to inform ordinary citizens about planning issues (on security or other) and working out suggestions together based on discussion, as well as to represent ordinary citizen before official bodies such as the city administration.

Support of planning for secure public spaces

 * Underpinning the interests of segments of the population in planning processes where the former have difficulty in expressing themselves, are socially disadvantaged or are simply not organised;
 * Ensuring that all segments of the population affected by a planning process are taken into account even-handedly;
 * Mediating between the everyday world of ordinary citizens and the perspective of experts (security and general planning, legal, and authority terms).

Process description
Advocacy planning is mostly employed at local or regional level; strict structures or sequence of events are not foreseen. Advocacy planners are usually available throughout a project period, but do not arrange activating citizen involvement. Advocacy planning also requires citizens' proactive initiatives. Examples for advocacy planners are local advice offices, youth, legal or environmental ombudsmen and others.

Advocacy planning should be structured to help ordinary citizens to stand up for their own interests and should make it easier to overcome possible discrimination, thus preventing unequal distribution of security in urban communities.