E-Participation in Urban Planning: Getting and Keeping Citizens Involved

Abstract

This article addresses an often neglected perspective on e-participation in urban planning: the citizens' perspective. Usually, the debate focuses very much on the planners' perspective. In a case study, two issues are analysed: First, what are the motives of participants and non-participants; second, how citizens' perception of influence and equality in the process affect their satisfaction with it. It is concluded that getting more people involved requires addressing three different types of motives, and that e-participation easily scores high on the perception of equality, but that citizens' perception of influence requires particular attention of the planners.