Democratic urban processes 1900-SM-2-5MS
The aim of the course is to present some basic principles concerning
public participation and the practice of involving city citizens into
decision-making processes, through the perspective of social conflict.
The course will be conducted as a workshop, where we will analyse
case studies and engage into practical activities.
Throughout the course we will be looking at institutional contexts,
including public policies and local legal acts aimed at developing
participatory methods of city governance, as well as their
implementation in practice. We will also focus on cases of conflict, the
social mechanisms involved, as well as possible ways of resolving
differences.
The course will start with discussing the idea of deliberative
democracy, its potential social benefits as well as challenges
associated with putting the idea into practice. We will then look at
various ways of implementing participatory mechanisms into city
governance and their accompanying difficulties. We will analyse
chosen local legal acts (e.g. resolutions concerning social
consultations or participatory budgeting) and their implementation in
specific urban contexts. Next we will look at examples of social
conflicts associated with participatory processes, as well as methods
and techniques of building consensus between the diverse interests of
various social actors: institutions, organisations, activists and groups of
residents. A specific type of conflict that we will focus on is NIMBY (Not
In My Back Yard), which involves controversy around situating
investments that are socially important but highly burdensome for their
immediate neighbours.
Type of course
Mode
Remote learning
Assessment criteria
The final grade will be based on attendance and activity
during the class (30%), and a written exam (70%).
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: