A method for the assessment of public participation in urban development

Abstract

A comprehensive piece of research on the tools and methods available for public participation in urban development was carried out as part of the U_CODE Urban Collective Design Environment H2020-ICT Project, the results of which are presented in this paper. Approximately 70 methods and a range of participation goals were identified by investigating the publications of 20 cities and participation networks in Germany plus a number of online participation platforms. In the descriptions a general distinction was made between the level of involvement and the objective of participation. For most of the goals on informational or cooperation level, several (especially offline) tools were found to be available. For more ambitious objectives, e.g. massive co-design, no appropriate tools are currently market-ready, yet several research and development projects are targeting the development and testing of such means. The strong development of more complex methods and tools can be expected within the next few years. Often these instruments are designed in cooperation with urban authorities, however their broad application in German municipalities may take a couple of years yet.