Collaborative planning in the new media age: The Dafo Temple controversy, China

New media have accelerated China’s social transition by distributing information, restructuring ways of
communication, and changing social relationships and public values. They have also facilitated the development
of new types of collaborative planning that are characterized by a broad range of agents, new
forms of communication, and new roles for planners. These new types of collaborative approaches promote
social interaction, public participation, and the collaboration between various actors. By reviewing
theoretical and empirical studies, this article first presents a conceptual framework for assessing collaborative
planning in the new media age. The framework comprises three components: the diversity of
agents, the nature of communication, and the roles of planners. A case study of the Dafo Temple controversy
is used to illustrate the framework’s application. After comparing traditional with new forms of collaborative
planning, ways to achieve effective consensus building in collaborative planning in the new
media age are suggested.