Public participation in urban design processes

Citizens as the experiencers of the built environment are described as pivotal actors in urban planning literature since 1960s. A communicative shift occurred in planning approaches in order to involve and engage people. This turn resulted in the search of participatory urban planning and design perspectives in democratic countries to give a say to people. However, the general debate is on the degree of participation as regards the question how public does participate in decision making processes by having the right to negotiate the decisions related with their living environment. Within this framework, main objective of this research is to clarify and solve the communication gap between professionals who are the decision makers and lay people who are effected by those decisions. The research question is what are the drivers of public participation in urban design processes that engage lay people with professionals. In this study public participation and urban design fields are examined, integrated, and studied with case studies from Europe. Outcomes of case studies are discussed within literature whether urban design projects, community organizations or the citizen professional are considered as drivers of public participation in urban design processes or not. Suggestions are made on the role of community organizations and the citizen professional through the community design processes. In conclusion, it is expected to be able to say community based urban design processes for public spaces initiated by a facilitator to have better solutions together with lay people and with the consultation of professionals creates places that are well-defined, practical and useful for people as a part of the community.