ABSTRACT
Showing the effect of citizen participation in the remaking of built environments requires consideration of its practical dialogic constituents as well as the larger political and existential contexts. This chapter will discuss the ideological intentions that drive citizen participation and the integration of citizen participation in city planning, using four cases in the mid-sized city of Malmö, Sweden, for reflection. Like many other regions around the globe, this Scandinavian region is marked by growing tech-, service- and education-oriented economies, by debates on immigration regulation, and by the remaking of energy policies. Departing from reflections on basic human rights and recent changes to political conditions in Sweden, this chapter addresses a variety of practices intended to anchor urban remaking according to the wishes of the population. The cases present flaws in the dialogue in each case, such as: a disputed public review process related to the remodeling of a square; an unanchored, consult-driven vision of a large-scale theme park; a lack of public response in the making of a landfill area, and the problematic codesign engagement in a socially vulnerable city district. These cases cast light on communicational difficulties in participatory practices and highlight a basic feature of dialogues: how to continuously anchor and evaluate the ideas brought to the table. The chapter points out the importance of acknowledging multimodal translational moments in dialogue and the need to consider scales beyond the immediate site of concern in the dialogue.
