FSD3571 Citizens' Panel on Traffic Planning in Turku: Resident Survey 2021

Authors

Keywords

climate change, decision making, democracy, participation, political behaviour, political participation, public transport, sustainability, transport planning, trust, urban transport

Abstract

The Turku/Åbo deliberates research project examined the opinions of people residing in Turku regarding traffic arrangements in the city centre. The data consist of three surveys conducted as part of the project.

For the first survey, an invitation to participate was sent to a random sample of 15-79-year-old residents of Turku. The respondents were first asked whether they thought it was easy to move around the city centre with different modes of transportation, how important they thought various goals (e.g. cutting greenhouse gas emissions, easy access) were when planning traffic arrangements in the city centre, and whether more or less attention should be paid to different groups (e.g. pedestrians, the disabled, elderly) when developing the traffic arrangements in the centre. Next, opinions were charted on various statements regarding the traffic arrangements in the city centre, for example, whether the respondents thought a tram was needed in Turku, tickets for public transportation should be cheaper, and private cars should be restricted in the centre. The respondents were also asked whether they thought the traffic arrangements should be planned to primarily benefit the current residents of Turku or the future generations.

The first survey also included questions on how satisfied the respondents were with democracy in Finland and in the city of Turku as well as to what extent they agreed with various statements regarding democracy, politics, and voting, and the decision-making and services of the city of Turku. The respondents were asked how concerned they were about climate change, whether they thought various actions would help mitigate the effects of climate change, and how probable they thought various contributing actions would be in their own life in the next few years (e.g. using public transportation more often, buying an electric car). Political and social participation as well as trust in other people and institutions were also surveyed. Finally, the respondents were presented with eight news headlines relating to climate change and traffic, and they were asked whether they would be interested in reading the whole article based on the headlines.

The respondents of the first survey were offered the opportunity to participate in an online citizen panel deliberation (a mini-public), before which they would receive background information on the traffic arrangements of the Turku city centre and alternative scenarios for a developed transport system. The second survey was sent to those who expressed their willingness to participate in this second phase. The questions in the second survey mainly focused on the respondents' knowledge of Finnish politics, democracy, climate change, and transportation in Turku.

The third survey was sent to the respondents who participated in the mini-public. Slightly different questions were included in the survey based on whether local councillors had been present in the deliberation in which the respondent had participated. Most questions in the third survey were repeated from the first survey. Additionally, the respondents were asked about their experiences and opinions regarding the mini-public.

Background variables included the respondent's gender age, area of residence in Turku, and level of education.

Study description in machine readable DDI-C 2.5 format

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