A Database for Participation Methods in Urban Development

Abstract

In order to enable appropriate citizen engagement and user participation in urban development projects, knowledge is needed about the availability of tools and methods and their applicability to the different stages of a design or planning process. However, a systematic overview of the various digital and non-digital approaches for public participation is still missing. Addressing this shortcoming, we have summarized state-of-the-art instruments for participatory urban design in Germany, and summarized them by the means of a comprehensive and comparative database. To establish the database, we have analyzed participation guidelines published by 30 German municipalities and catalogued the tools and methodologies in use there. Information could be gathered on 70 different methods and tools of different levels of complexity. The approaches were classified inter alia by the level of engagement, plus 13 other categories. All findings were compiled into a data structure, giving basic information on the methods, links to reference documents, and sample projects. Our investigation has given evidence that certain methods are well known and widely applied by municipalities and stakeholder groups, while other more ambitious approaches are used only by larger and more resourceful cities. To the latter class, many digital tools belong. – The database is intended as search tool and information base for stakeholders who want to search and compare different participatory approaches. It is a key component for a process design tool enabling planners, authorities and managers for the design of participatory processes that can correspond closely to specific contexts. Being associated to the EU H2020 project “U_CODE Urban Collective Design Environment”, the database will be launched 2017 on the project website www.u-code.eu.