This article presents some insights into making participatory processes meaningful. It argues that these processes need to expressly empower communities through grassroots organizing, coalition building, and democratic deliberation. Community benefits agreements are new models of this power process. These are private agreements between community coalitions and developers. Case studies of two large projects in California, the Los Angeles International Airport expansion in Los Angeles and the Ballpark Village in San Diego, are presented. These studies demonstrate certain unique features that make participation an exercise in the redistribution of power.
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