Essay --

In 2002, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) and the New York and New Jersey Port Authority held a collaborative planning event organized by America Speaks regarding the future development of the World Trade Center site after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The LMDC and Port Authority initially created six congruent plans regarding the reconstruction of the site. The LMDC saw the mandate they had to follow in reconstructing the tower to be broad. "LMDC thus announced that it would set up eight advisory councils to represent key constituencies—families; residents; restaurants, retailers, and small businesses; arts, education and tourism; financial services firms; professional firms; commuters and transportation; and development." (Rosegrant P.2 2002) The LMDC had made plans that would involve making the site into a mixed area of commercial and residential. The Port Authority likewise desired to stick to the original layout of the previous World Trade Center struct ure. They wanted to keep the space strictly for commercial and office space purposes. (Rosegrant 2002) Unable to come to an agreement on how the site should be used, it was decided to try and reach a wider demographic in regards to creating a blueprint for the reconstruction of the site. The Port Authority and the LMDC decided to accept a proposal from America Speaks on organizing a collaborative process that will bring all of the various stakeholders together. To discuss the future of the World Trade Center site. America Speaks' collaborative event brought together over 5,000 participants. 4,500 of whom were of the general public representative of the various demographics that resided within the region. The rest being composed of government and civic leade... ...c mobilization and decision making embodies the message. When designing a collaborative process I might have done certain things differently, despite its flaws the collaborative process proved to be successful. This success is owed to being inclusive through the formatting of the meeting. Innovative use of online and offline space. Allowing participants during the initial meeting define what they would want in a design plan of the space to be reconstructed. This format of collaborative planning was fairly new and it explains why participants were not confident that their input will not be considered in the decision making. While technology did play a prominent role the management of the process was also depended on the quality of table facilitators, scribes and the theme team. America Speaks was able to successfully organize and operate this collaborative process.