In 2018 the City of Sydney undertook a multi-phase community engagement to generate ideas inform a vision and plan for the city by 2050. This included a citizens' jury who considered content from experts and the wider public before delivering their recommendations for concepts that should be implemented by 2050.
Problems and Purpose
In 2018 the City of Sydney local government began planning to create a vision of Sydney for 2050. The aim of the extensive engagement process was to gather insight and feedback from the community and create a shared vision for the type of city that Sydney could become in coming years [1].
A range of processes and initiative were rolled out to engage with the community, including a citizens’ jury, pop-up events, surveys and workshops with specific groups such as Indigenous Australians and young people [2]. The citizens’ jury were tasked with considering what concepts should be implemented in Sydney by 2050 [3].
Background History and Context
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Organizing, Supporting, and Funding Entities
The City of Sydney Planning for 2050 engagement program was organized and delivered by the City of Sydney local government. The citizens’ jury was designed and delivered by the newDemocracy Foundation. A number of other consultant organizations were involved in the different phases and reports of the engagement process.
Participant Recruitment and Selection
The overall program involved a range of methods and forms of participation. This included a survey of 5,000 people, pop-up events, community sessions in Mandarin and Spanish, workshops with young people and Indigenous groups. Participation was either open or specific groups were invited through community leaders or community organizations [4]. Specific effort was taken to target children and young people.
Participants were recruited for the citizens’ jury by newDemocracy using a random stratified sample. Invites were sent to people living within the city and surrounding suburbs to account for the fact that many people live outside City of Sydney but are still impacted by government decisions. The sample was stratified for age, gender, household type, geographic location and ‘city-use’ (to ensure a broad representation of people who the city for different reasons [5]. In total, 43 people took part in the jury.
Methods and Tools Used
The overall engagement process utilized a number of different methods and tools, including a citizens' jury, surveys, workshops, two youth summits and tailored workshops for culturally and linguistically diverse communities.
What Went On: Process, Interaction, and Participation
Planning for 2050 took place in several phases. In the first phase, views were gathered from as many diverse perspectives as possible about ‘the community’s values and aspirations’ for Sydney’s future [6]. The first phase included:
- 20 workshops with local schools, elementary and high school
- Two summits with elementary and high school pupils to discuss their ideas for action in the future
- First Peoples’ Dialogue Forum
- Business workshops
The results of this first phase were summarized in a community engagement insights report. The citizens’ jury were then tasked with considering the ideas, proposals and concepts gathered from the first phase during their deliberations [7].
The jury met 6 times from August to November 2019. The first day was dedicated to getting to know each other and the task at hand, including background information and context. At the second meeting, the jury began to go through some of the 1,400 ideas that the council had received [8], as well as having the opportunity to interview some relevant experts. On their third day of deliberations, the jury further refined the list of ideas and had the opportunity to select further experts they wanted to consult on the chosen concepts and ideas. At the following meeting, these chosen experts gave presentations on the emerging themes, which enabled jurors to go back and further refine, review and amend the list of concepts [9]. The final two meetings were dedicated to further refining the shortlist of ideas and finally, writing up their report to present to the mayor, which comprised seven concepts to be implemented by 2050.
Notably, the first of the jury’s recommended concepts was participatory governance, which included specific calls for participatory budgeting, citizens’ panels and online voting systems [10].
Influence, Outcomes, and Effects
As of March 2020, the influence of the community engagement is not yet clear as the 2050 plan is still in development. In order to continue community participation in the plan’s development, the council has set up an online community panel. The panel aims to recruit 10,000 members (participation is open to anyone over 16 in the Sydney area) and will be used as a sounding board for future planning. The council also shares its reports online where people can see the updates relating to the plan.
Analysis and Lessons Learned
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See Also
References
[1] newDemocracy Foundation (2020) City of Sydney Planning for 2050. Available at: https://www.newdemocracy.com.au/2019/07/24/city-of-sydney-planning-for-2050/
[2] City of Sydney (2020) Planning for 2050. Available at: https://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/vision/planning-for-2050/planning-for-sydney-2050-what-we-heard
[3] City of Sydney Citizens' Jury (2019). Sydney 2050: Citizens' Jury Concept Report [pdf]. Available at: https://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/318662/citizens-jury-concepts-report.pdf
[4] Astrolabe Group (2019) Community Engagement Insights Report [pdf]. Available at: https://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/314604/FINAL_Community-Insights_Low-Rez-WEB.pdf
[5] newDemocracy Foundation (2018). Sydney 2050 - from ideas to public judgement: project concept design [pdf]. Available at:https://www.newdemocracy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/newDemocracy-City-of-Sydney-2050.pdf , p. 14
[6] Astrolabe Group (2019) Community Engagement Insights Report [pdf]. Available at: https://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/314604/FINAL_Community-Insights_Low-Rez-WEB.pdf
[7] City of Sydney (2020). Sydney 2050 Citizens' Jury. Available at: https://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/vision/planning-for-2050/sydney-2050-citizens-jury#page-element-dload
[8] Ibid.
[9] Ibid.
[10] City of Sydney Citizens' Jury (2019). Sydney 2050: Citizens' Jury Concept Report [pdf]. Available at: https://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/318662/citizens-jury-concepts-report.pdf, p. 10
External Links
https://www.newdemocracy.com.au/2019/07/24/city-of-sydney-planning-for-2050/
https://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/vision/planning-for-2050
Notes
All documents and reports of each phase of the engagement process are available here through the City of Sydney
