ABSTRACT
The New Urban Agenda (NUA) calls for citizen participation both as a form of action and as an aim for local governments. This chapter provides a general overview of the statutory and regulatory provisions on local participation in Spain. It examines the citizen participation mechanisms expressly enshrined in legislation and discusses the main lessons and challenges faced by the various forms of public participation. The re-establishment of democracy by means of the 1978 Spanish Constitution created a legal context that favors citizen participation. The Spanish national government has embraced the NUA. Organic participation entails integrating citizens, whether on their own behalf or representing associations or organized groups, into local bodies. Top-down or functional participation occurs when citizens, whether individually or collectively, are induced or called on by local governments to express their opinions, suggestions, or objections regarding a given local policy initiative. The various forms of citizen participation pose somewhat common challenges, difficulties, and concerns.
