Network approach to constructing theory of participation in spatial planning

Although importance of participation in public decision making is widely recognized in policy sciences, there is no consensus on what its preferred role and meaning would be. In the practice of European spatial planning, its outcome - impacts are peripheral, and there is no distinct theoretical explanation underpinning why this is so, and how the situation may be altered. The primary aim of the study is to tackle this issue; by developing initial step towards a theoretical explanation of participation in spatial planning. The inductive analysis is based on such process for the Nature Park Medvednica, a protected area in Croatia affected with strong urbanization. The research design is based on grounded theory, an approach for developing theoretical explanations of a given phenomenon by gathering qualitative data rooted in practical case(s), where the explanation is decontextualized and thus universal enough that it can be used in other cases (i.e. generalized). However, there is a high level of inconsistency on how exactly grounded theory should be applied, which diminishes the validity of its claims. The secondary aim of the study is to provide structure to how grounded theory could be applied; by developing a series of methodological steps rooted in social network analysis, and thus enhancing its replicability. Primary data is drawn from 56 interviews, covering a 30-year process of spatial planning.