Integrating popular education into a model of empowerment planning. Issue 3 (27th May 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bengle, Tara; Sorensen, Janni
• Is Part Of: Community development. Volume 48:Issue 3(2017)
• Page Start: 320
• Page End: 338
• Publication Date: 2017-05-27
• Subjects: Capacity building -- citizen participation -- popular education -- urban planning; Community development -- Periodicals; 307.1405
• DOI: 10.1080/15575330.2016.1264441
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1557-5330

Abstract

Abstract: This research introduces popular education into a neighborhood planning process in a low-income community in Charlotte, NC. Residents and members of a community–university partnership participated in a two-day workshop at the Highlander Education and Research Center in Tennessee and engaged in popular education exercises there to explore neighborhood issues through a lens of structural inequality. Data include interviews, participant observations, and a focus group. This research adds to the literature on empowerment planning – an approach to urban planning that integrates popular education, participatory action research, and community organizing to increase local control of planning and community development efforts.