Citizen Participation in Architecture and Urban Planning Confronted with Arnstein’s Ladder: Four Experiments into Popular Neighbourhoods of Hainaut Demonstrate Another Hierarchy

Abstract

Widely used and disseminated, Arnstein’s ladder is considered a reference for citizen participation. It, nevertheless, involves a recurrent bias and a certain confusion when confronted with projects in the Belgian and French working-class districts of cross-border Hainaut. Characterised by fundamentally opposed management systems (one bureaucratic and hierarchical, the other democratic or even delegative), these worksites challenge Arnstein’s concepts and allow us to understand that information is not a level in the participation ladder, but the condition for the functioning of the whole system. Likewise, they also teach us that manipulation and delegation are not opposite extremes but can percolate in any level of participation. Finally, they reveal that the interlocking of powers and the interplay of stakeholders can easily turn the established participation mechanism from exemplary to revolting and vice versa.

Idea Browsing on Digital Participation Platforms: A Mixed-Methods Requirements Study

“…Indeed, ideas potentially impacting the users' environment and daily life are discussed on these platforms, and it is therefore essential that concerned citizens are aware of them. Literature on citizen participation recognizes the importance of accessing information by considering this activity as a form of participation in itself [3] or as a necessary condition for participation [38].…”

“…While lurking has previously been negatively perceived [46], it is now widely recognized that it has positive outcomes such as the vicarious learning of the community dynamics and the propagation of information in other communities [11,17,48]. The civic nature of DPP gives a special importance to idea browsing, as it is essential for citizens to stay informed [19,38]. The large proportion of DPP users who browse ideas compared to contributors and the importance of this activity in a citizen participation context show that idea browsing is an essential part of DPP.…”