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Constructing the Urban Citizen: How Public Knowledge Is Translated into Urban Planning Processes

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Relational Planning

Abstract

Public consultation has been established as a legally mandatory step in land use planning processes in most Western societies. Recent trends point to a growing interest to exceed this mandatory format and to engage citizens at a wide variety of ways. Using Irwin’s (Public Understanding of Science 10 (1): 1–18, 2001) concept of the “scientific citizen”, this chapter draws parallels between science and planning with regard to public engagement. Empirical material from two case studies is used to trace the construction of the “urban citizen” in two public engagement approaches. As a conclusion, it is argued that the framing of the urban citizen in certain public engagement approaches is not necessarily related to their democratic qualities or deliberative deficits in the translation of public knowledge into urban planning processes.

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Kurath, M. (2018). Constructing the Urban Citizen: How Public Knowledge Is Translated into Urban Planning Processes. In: Kurath, M., Marskamp, M., Paulos, J., Ruegg, J. (eds) Relational Planning. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60462-6_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60462-6_6

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