Public participation for urban sustainability: investigating relations among citizens, the environment and institutions – an ethnographic study

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to evaluate public participation as a driver of sustainable urban governance. This study deals at a theoretical level with a relational view of urban sustainability, conceived as a multidimensional process determined by the socio-ecological interconnections that modify the local environment. It observes these interconnections in the practice of urban governance, presenting an ethnographic investigation of the case of the Iguaçu Project, in the Rio de Janeiro Metropolitan Region. The analysis provides two levels of results: the micro-level (the participatory process) and the macro-level (the public environmental policy). At the micro-level, the research shows the capacity of participatory arenas to enhance relations between citizens and the environment. At the macro-level, it highlights the existence of concurrent policy mechanisms in the same local environment, which undermines the results of public participation. The conclusion stresses a politicised organisation of the public engagement process so that local environmental governance achieves sustainability.