Residents and neighborhood groups in San Francisco have become increasingly involved in the city’s urban planning, gradually gaining prominence from earlier years when such groups could only hope to participate in the decision-making that affects their lives. In many cases, city neighborhoods had suffered because of poor planning that failed to involve relevant stakeholders, such as local youth leaders. As a result, St. John’s Educational Thresholds Center, a visionary organization serving youth in the Mission district of San Francisco, identified cooperative planning as a mechanism by which all stakeholders could participate in making decisions about the city in which they live, thereby strengthening communities and urban planning.

In March 2002, St. John’s staff participated in a training organized by Partners for Democratic Change that introduced the Partners Collaboration Model. This innovative model provides community based organizations with cooperative planning skills, such as effective facilitation and negotiation skills and cross-cultural competencies, enabling them to take a lead in promoting projects that benefit the entire community. In contrast to long standing theory that only outside “specialists” can facilitate a multi-stakeholder social change process, Partners Collaboration Model builds on the commitment, passion, and energy of the community organization’s staff to be the facilitators for the promotion of community projects. Trained facilitators identify all the key stakeholders in a community, analyze the situation, design a responsive process, and ensure that all participants have the skills to participate in a constructive dialogue. With the help of their facilitation, the participants jointly identify the issues of concern to their community and decide how to move forward, designing a detailed action plan for the future.

Through their new skills, the St. John’s youth staff strengthened their ability to work together and become active leaders and advocates in the planning and design of the Hoff Street Park project in the Mission district, an initiative to develop a new communal space in the neighborhood. Meeting facilitation and negotiation skills proved especially useful when St. John’s convened all stakeholders to discuss the design and implementation of the project with urban planners. These meetings revealed a variety of needs and expectations among the different stakeholders, and for the first time, youth residents of the Mission District had a chance to express their hopes and concerns related to the new park project. The youth leaders wanted the new park area to become a safe, drug- and crime-free environment that integrated a graffiti wall at the planning stage. The invaluable contribution of the youth residents, who have taken the lead in unifying the community, had a tremendous impact on the further elaboration of the Hoff Street Park project. Following this participatory effort, the involvement of neighborhood residents in similar projects through inclusive community decision-making processes is becoming an imperative for successful development.