step of the concrete steps to implement the five institutional reforms reflects central government s acknowledgement of the need to enhance citizen participation in the decisionmaking process through the development of selfregulation and local selfgovernment however little evidence emerged on how this was being implemented when a city general plan is developed a public hearing is held to allow citizens to participate in discussions and air their comments cities have the duty to inform residents about the general plans and get feedback from them this is important as these experiences can be the foundation for civic action in major cities the problem seems to be that there is to some extent a lack of interest from citizens due to the mistrust of government in general no methodology makes public participation an integral part of the urban planning process and implementation citizens do not perceive a benefit from taking part in these exercises and local government officials are not trained to engage with the community