The Regional Plan Association will release a report tomorrow taking the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation to task for failing to include more public participation in its effort to rebuild downtown.

While the report finds some positives with the rebuilding process, namely improvements in transportation infrastructure and the creation of office space, it condemns the lack of affordable housing downtown and the failure to diversify Lower Manhattan’s economy.

The report is directed at the Civic Alliance to Rebuild Downtown New York, a coalition of some 75 civic groups convened after the September 11 terrorist attacks.

“At the beginning, the LMDC made a great show of public participation, but responding to the public on economic development strategies has become poorer,” said an author of the report, Petra Todorovich.

A murky application process has made it difficult for groups to access the $1.2 billion in community development block grants the Bush administration allocated to the LMDC, Ms. Todorovich said.

The report also criticizes the lack of affordable housing being built in Lower Manhattan.

“In all the public forums where civic groups gathered, there was a strong recommendation for affordable housing, but so far, little has been built,” Ms. Todorovich said. Only $50 million remains of the $860 million in community development block grants, she added.

The $1.6 billion Liberty Bonds program has generated some affordable housing, but not enough, she said. The city charges a 3% fee to developers who use Liberty Bonds, using the money to build affordable housing in other areas of the city, including Upper Manhattan and The Bronx.

This does not help maintain the diverse character downtown, “where areas like Chinatown, with a median income of $20,000, borders on TriBeCa, which has a median income of $150,000,” she said.

The effort to diversify the industries in Lower Manhattan to include creative businesses such as publishing and technology has yet to be successful, the report concludes.

“It is important to retain the core financial sector downtown, but to be more competitive with Midtown there needs to be new industries,” Ms. Todorovich said.

The priorities of the LMDC, along with Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Pataki, have been focused on large-scale infrastructure projects instead of subsidies for affordable housing and incentives to draw new industries downtown, said the president of Partnership for New York City, Kathryn Wylde.

The LMDC issued a statement saying its immediate priority is the WTC site and the creation of a 21st century central business district.