Social media influence on collaborative planning: framing strategies in online public participation

Collaborative planning requires aligning diverse stakeholder frames. Yet, few studies in collaborative planning literature examine framing strategies’ influence, especially how citizens in authoritarian contexts achieve frame success. Using Big Banyan Tree controversy in China, this study integrates framing and network theories through a mixed-method approach combining co-occurrence network analysis and BERT-based semantic clustering. Analysis of Weibo posts reveals how citizens use framing strategies to mobilize sentiment and challenge official narratives. Findings reveal how social media enables bottom-up discursive power, reshaping planning discourse. The study contributes a discourse-centered perspective on collaborative planning in a networked public sphere.