The role of technologies and citizen organizations in decentralized forms of participation. A case study about residential streets in Vienna

Abstract

Citizen participation is a complicated piece of the urban development puzzle as it is prone to conflicts and manipulation. However, new, partly unsanctioned methods of citizen participation have appeared in recent years, opening new forms of engagement for citizens. At the same time, technology is increasingly being used to change the relationship between institutions, experts and citizens. However, the impact of such technologies in citizen engagement has not been systematically measured. Using residential streets in Vienna as a case study, this paper explores the impact of web technologies in the engagement of citizens. Three data collection methods were used: an online survey, expert interviews, and automated data collection. The results show that web-based maps can inform and inspire citizens, however, they will more likely only sustain current patterns of engagement. Further, collaborating with citizen initiatives proved to have a significant impact on the adoption and usage of online tools. This speaks strongly for co-creation approaches, where citizen organizations are included from an early stage in the development of the tools.