ABSTRACT
A fundamental way to challenge and transform the currently limited citizen participation in urban planning is through widening its thematic range and demographic scope, allowing for strategic questions, such as models of city governance, or the existing urbanization paradigms, to be unpacked and continuously (re)discussed or (re)evaluated. Furthermore, if participative formats are to authentically target social inclusion, they need to consider both goals and process, hence downscaling expectations around reaching immediate, reasonable and rational results while offering setups that are tailored to, and welcoming of, diverse sociocultural profiles. A central issue here is how and if participative processes inform policy. Citizens must be able to trace the way their inputs, voices and concerns are taken into account in policy decisions.
