THE PRINCIPLE OF PARTICIPATION OF CITIZENS AND THEIR ASSOCIATIONS IN URBAN PLANNING: THEORY AND PRACTICE
The article examines the theory and practice of implementing the intersectoral principle of the participation of citizens and their associations in urban development activities, ensuring the freedom of such participation. It is proved that public discussions and public hearings in the sphere of town planning are a form of people's participation in addressing issues of local importance in the ield of urban development, consisting in open discussion of project documentation by residents of the municipality (or a part of it) or other town-planning decisions that actually or potentially pose a threat to the exercise by citizens and / or land plot owners of their constitutional rights, for public evaluation of submitted documents and recommendations for local authorities on the issues discussed. The author proposes to expand the scope of the local referendum on urban development issues, as well as change the existing tendency to reduce the scope of public discussions and public hearings in the sphere of urban development. It is noted that public discussions and public hearings are related but not identical procedures, a clear delineation of which is yet to be implemented. However, even now it can be concluded that, from the point of view of the subject of legal regulation, the sphere of public discussions is wider than the public hearings concerning a narrow range of issues specified in the law.