How to Improve Charrettes

In participatory planning, there is no planning without several events known as charrettes, which you probably already knew. What's not clear, however, is how charrettes can live up to their promise in the planning process.

"Design charrettes are, in theory, a valuable component of the urban planning process that help communities take a little bit of ownership over the changes coming to their streets," according to an article by Josh Cohen.

But there's a but: "In practice, that is often not the case," adds Cohen.

In the hopes of improving this staple of contemporary planning practice, Cohen speaks a collection of expert practitioners of charerretts to gather there thoughts on how improve charettes. Those points, with more detail in the article: 1) Your charrette must be a charrette, 2) Do more and better outreach, 3) Set realistic expectation, 4) Communicate more clearly, and 5) Provide real feedback.