[Xmca-l] Re: CHAT and Government Land use decision making

[Jose W. Melendez]

Hi Gary,

It is good to hear that there are other's beginning to pay attention to
public spaces and theorize how a CHAT approach can afford a framing of the
activity happening in them.

I am a doctoral candidate in the Learning Sciences with a co-discipline in
Urban Planning and Policy at the University of Illinois, Chicago. My
research focus is on how people learn in democratic activity. My research
uses a Cultural Historical Activity Theory framework to analyze
participatory planning processes as learning environments. The specific
phenomenon of my dissertation is the Participatory Budgeting Process in
Chicago's 49th Ward.

When conducting my literature review there were indeed very few references
of others using a CHAT framework in participatory planning processes. The
following are individuals who have begun to to do so in a variety of ways
and environments: Rogers Hall, Moira Zellner, Charles Hoch, Katherine
Headrick Taylor, and Leilah Lyons, C. Hanny, K. O'Connor. K Quick and M.
Feldman from the planning field have begun to use communities of practice
framework to understand participation in these environments. There is also
a dissertation by Raine Mäntysalo that Engeström shared with me. Besides
these, you have to be creative in your literature review searches and
framing.

You can contact me to discuss further if you wish and I wish you best of
luck.

*José W. Meléndez, M.Ed.*
University of Illinois @ Chicago (UIC)
Doctoral Candidate in the Learning Sciences
& Research Assistant at the
Learning Sciences Research Institute (LSRI) <http://www.lsri.uic.edu/>
Email: jwmuic@gmail.com


On Sat, Aug 29, 2015 at 9:28 PM, Garry O'Dell <Garry.ODell@uon.edu.au>
wrote:

>
> Dear All,
> Dear All,
>
> I am trying to establish whether other academics have encountered my
> particular field of inquiry.
>
> This exploratory qualitative research focuses on the decision-making
> process of state and local government bureaucrats as it relates to
> temporary uses. Events, such as markets, community, sporting, music, art
> and agricultural shows can be one-off, intermittent or a regular user of
> vacant private or public land, water or the air. Anecdotal evidence notes
> that government, community and industry actors hold different
> interpretations, priorities and understandings and as a result events are
> inconsistently treated in the land use regulation process. There is
> uncertainty, conflicting organizational priorities and community
> expectations, and a lack of useful policies, practices or methodologies.
>
> The research applies Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) as a
> conceptual framework enhanced by a theoretical scaffold provided by Weber’s
> classic theory of rationality, Bozeman’s red tape theory, Lipsky’s work on
> street level bureaucracy and Ritzer’s McDonaldization. CHAT acts as a lens
> to understand the decision-making process drawing upon data collected from
> documents and semi-structured interviews of legislators, event organisers
> and government staff.
>
>  I am particularly interested in exploring the decision-making process for
> events with following characteristics/dynamics:
>
> •    Land-, water- or air-based use/event
> •       Held on private or public spaces
> •       One-off, intermittent or a regular use/event
> •       Arranged with a commercial or not-for-profit focus
> •    Using temporary facilities such as marques, stages, car parks,
> amenities and food kiosks to make any public or private space usable
> •    On or in a space (building, land, water or air) not primarily
> intended for the use/event
> •    At the end of the temporary use/event the space is restored, as far
> as is practicable, to the pre-use condition
> •    Does not hinder the permanent development of the space
> •       Can be a mix of temporary uses, e.g. camping with a concert.
>
> If you are aware of any academic research or insights into events decision
> making processes.
>
> Regards,
>
>
>
> Garry O'Dell
>
> Ph. 0412439589
>
> Doctoral Candidate
> Newcastle Business School
> Faculty of Business and Law
> University of Newcastle
> Auckland Street,
> NEWCASTLE NSW 2300 Australia
>
> ________________________________
>
>