City planning processes reveal interesting patterns in public engagement. Regional transportation meetings that discuss highway expansions and transit...
GMAT Information and Ideas : (Ideas) Questions
City planning processes reveal interesting patterns in public engagement. Regional transportation meetings that discuss highway expansions and transit development often draw sparse attendance, as these sessions demand familiarity with traffic engineering principles and regional economic data. In contrast, neighborhood meetings about playground renovations or street lighting improvements consistently see robust community involvement. Residents readily contribute insights based on their daily experiences with local infrastructure. This pattern suggests that ______
Which choice most logically completes the text?
regional transportation planning is more important than neighborhood improvement projects.
municipal codes should be simplified to encourage greater public participation.
community members are more likely to actively engage in neighborhood planning meetings than in regional planning sessions.
city planners should focus primarily on local issues rather than regional development.
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "City planning processes reveal interesting patterns in public engagement." |
|
| "Regional transportation meetings that discuss highway expansions and transit development often draw sparse attendance, as these sessions demand familiarity with traffic engineering principles and regional economic data." |
|
| "In contrast, neighborhood meetings about playground renovations or street lighting improvements consistently see robust community involvement." |
|
| "Residents readily contribute insights based on their daily experiences with local infrastructure." |
|
Part B: Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Public engagement in city planning varies based on complexity and local relevance of issues.
Argument Flow: The passage contrasts regional meetings (technical, sparse attendance) with neighborhood meetings (experiential, robust participation) to establish a pattern about engagement.
Step 2: Interpret the Question Precisely
This is a fill-in-the-blank question asking us to choose the best logical connector. The answer must create the right relationship between what comes before and after the blank.
Step 3: Prethink the Answer
- The pattern shows people participate more when topics connect to daily experiences rather than requiring specialized knowledge
- The right answer should capture this relationship between topic accessibility and engagement levels
regional transportation planning is more important than neighborhood improvement projects.
✗ Incorrect
- Claims regional planning is more important
- Incorrect because passage discusses attendance, not importance
municipal codes should be simplified to encourage greater public participation.
✗ Incorrect
- Suggests simplifying municipal codes
- Incorrect because passage never mentions codes or proposes solutions
community members are more likely to actively engage in neighborhood planning meetings than in regional planning sessions.
✓ Correct
- States community members are more likely to engage in neighborhood meetings
- Correct because it directly matches the described pattern
city planners should focus primarily on local issues rather than regional development.
✗ Incorrect
- Makes recommendation about what planners should do
- Incorrect because passage describes patterns but doesn't prescribe actions