Citizen participation in the Netherlands : motives to involve citizens in planning processes

Abstract

Many post-war areas in Europe are suffering from diverse physical, economic and social \nproblems, such as bad housing quality, high numbers of joblessness and declining levels \nof social cohesion. This holds especially for large housing estates. To counteract this \ndevelopment, policymakers and stakeholders have joined hands. Most of these actors \nsubscribe to the idea that not only physical, but also social and economic solutions are \nneeded. Involving citizens in local policymaking is believed to be of major importance \nhere, not only because citizen participation can enhance social cohesion, but also \nbecause residents are regarded as ‘experts’ of the neighbourhood who can provide \nvaluable information to the policymakers. Although most policymakers and stakeholders \nagree on the importance of citizen participation, there is no general agreement on the \nquestion how to shape the structure of citizen participation, nor is there a general answer \nto the question to what extent citizens should be involved. In this paper, the influence of \ngovernance structures on levels of citizen participation will be investigated. This will be \ndone by linking different stages in a planning process to the observed levels of citizen \nparticipation. Central in this paper are the motives of policymakers and stakeholders. \nThese motives are derived from interviews with professionals who are related to planning \nprocesses in three post-war areas in the Netherlands: Bouwlust in The Hague, Nieuw- \nHoograven in Utrecht and Liendert in Amersfoort. The so-called Big Cities Policy targets \nall these neighbourhoods; an integrative policy that aims to improve deteriorated urban \nneighbourhoods in the country’s 30 largest cities.

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