ABSTRACT
The Mayor of Walkington starts a top-down process to implement a consistent and comprehensive policy not only to enhance walking but to make Walkington a city for walkers. Thereby, he relies on experts and on evidence in order to ensure that all measures taken are according to the state of the art. By doing this, he ensures participation of the citizens, as a matter of course, thus launching a series of bottom-up movements without investing extra time and money. Doing the right thing top-down, in fact, also means involving the addressed citizens and relevant subgroups of them. The mayor also has understood that ‘involving’ does not only mean to listen to the citizens and try to please them, but also to argue and to convince them. The propagation of arguments and information about why certain measures are taken, and probably have to be taken, is necessary. Lip service that is seen through by the citizens will function like a boomerang, while the communication of the necessity of certain measures, followed by measures in the frame of a professionally steered process, has good chances to become a success. Understanding this and acting accordingly, the mayor is re-elected.
