Strategic Planning and Public Opinion Survey

Strategic Planning is a creative, practical planning process for community change. Community Strategic Planning produces a visionary statement of what the community wants to be 10 to 20 years in the future. There is no one ideal strategic planning process that has worked for all communities and community groups. Different communities have successfully used a variety of processes. The article describes methods important for evolvement of the situation analysis, particularly the method of representative public opinion survey that provides basis for SWOT analysis and formulation of the strategic goals. The method reflecting public’s attitudes, values, and beliefs regarding community development is demonstrated on the example of two cities located in the Eastern part of the Slovak Republic - Košice and Spišská Nová Ves. Key words: Community Strategic Planning, Community Needs Analysis, City and Place Marketing, Strategic Planning Methodology, Public Opinion Survey, Questionnaires design.