Insight into the difficulties of public participation in planning and land use issues

Talking with Ken yesterday, he commented that from the standpoint of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, most people are Sensers (70% of the U.S. population) very much focused on the here and now, and only 5 to 10% are of the U.S. population are the systems and change-oriented Intituitives (NT), focused on abstract thinking, and therefore innovation.

According to David Keirsay, a leading interpreter of the MBTI and author of a number of books about the personality types that result from the interpretation, it comes down to temperament, and how people communicate (abstract vs. concrete) and act (utilitarian and individualistic vs. cooperatively).

SO much of public meetings is about opposition to change, to thinking about doing new things. There is the oft repeated line about being able to see the unseen. That is what planning and the future is about. And because so many people are focused on what is (not even what was) rather than what could be, public participation processes end up being very difficult and make it hard for places to improve.

Sounds like a good thesis topic...