Socio-Economic and cultural readiness for digital participatory planning: Stakeholder insights from Jordan

• Created and tested two readiness indices (SERI and CARI) to determine socio-economic and cultural variables that affected digital participatory planning in Jordan. • Moderate levels of readiness were found, with NGOs having the highest socio-economic readiness and government employees having highest attitudinal openness. • Education and previous digital engagement were recognized as the major predictors, whereas affordability, literacy, and trust were recognized as the most important obstacles. Digital participatory planning (DPP) is becoming a common tool to aid transparency and involvement of the population, but its effectiveness relies on the socio-economic and cultural preparedness of the stakeholders, which is an unexplored field of study, especially in the MENA region. This paper fills this gap by developing two multidimensional indices that reflect the readiness, namely, the Socio-Economic Readiness Index (SERI) and the Cultural/Attitudinal Readiness Index (CARI). Based on a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design, the study combines a survey of 420 stakeholders in five sectors with 20 semi-structured interviews. The results show that the readiness in Jordan is moderate and uneven and is conditioned by the limitations that are associated with the cost, digital literacy, and institutional trust. Previous digital experience and education were found to be the most significant indicators of preparedness. The qualitative insights also indicated issues related to trust, inclusivity, and perceived effect of participation, and structural and cultural barriers that are not reflected in the current frameworks. The paper gives a fresh context-specific framework to determine preparedness in developing nations and offers useful policy implications to policymakers, such as the affordability-reform agenda, digital literacy programs, and more receptive engagement services.