A survey of residents in the Locarnese region of Canton Ticino, Switzerland was used to examine perceptions of exposure to environmental risk in the context of the deliberative Swiss planning system. There is a growing risk of wildfire in the region, and unless residents’ risk perceptions are understood and effectively integrated into decision making, confidence in environmental planning processes could erode. The research analyses how peri-urban residents conceptualise risk, place and environment, and how they perceive their influence over local planning outcomes. Descriptive and inferential statistics reveal high appreciation of lifestyle and amenity values, and support for firefighting services. While respondents recognise the increasing exposure to wildfires and landslides, it was the current level of urban expansion that was seen to be heightening risk at the interface between forests and settlements. Although Swiss deliberative governance arrangements offer citizens opportunities to be involved in decision making through official channels, respondents who were younger, of local background or who were less educated were particularly dissatisfied with their influence over planning. We discuss the implications of these findings for the distinctive Swiss planning system in the context of other countries’ ambitions to develop more effective, democratic environmental planning. In particular, the relative ease offered by popular referenda may be creating a disproportionate sense of citizen entitlement to be heard on local planning issues. Dialogues of risk reduction must continue to evolve between the population and government actors to encourage residents to engage more fully with relevant topics of risk for their region.

一项对瑞士提契诺州洛卡内塞地区居民的调查被用来检查在慎重的瑞士规划系统背景下对环境风险的看法。该地区发生野火的风险越来越大，除非了解居民的风险认知并有效地将其纳入决策，否则对环境规划过程的信心可能会受到削弱。该研究分析了城郊居民如何概念化风险、地点和环境，以及他们如何看待他们对当地规划结果的影响。描述性和推断性统计数据表明，人们对生活方式和便利设施的价值以及对消防服务的支持高度重视。虽然受访者认识到越来越多地暴露在野火和山体滑坡中，正是当前的城市扩张水平被认为正在加剧森林和定居点之间的交界处的风险。尽管瑞士的协商治理安排为公民提供了通过官方渠道参与决策的机会，但年龄较小、具有当地背景或受教育程度较低的受访者尤其不满意他们对规划的影响。我们在其他国家发展更有效、更民主的环境规划的雄心的背景下讨论了这些发现对独特的瑞士规划体系的影响。特别是，全民公投提供的相对便利可能会造成公民有权在地方规划问题上发表意见的不成比例的感觉。