Improving the Process of Public Participation in Urban Densification Projects in Eindhoven

To see and download the full thesis, please go to the TU/e Library through the link below:
https://research.tue.nl/en/studentTheses/improving-the-process-of-public-participation-in-urban-densificat

Public participation is crucial in urban densification projects to weigh all
interests and ensure added value for both present and future residents and
users. It is however a complex undertaking that regularly fails to be effective.
Failure not only leads to the ignorance of public knowledge and interests but
may also cause substantial delays and budgetary problems. It is not clear why
public participation processes fail to be effective and what can be done about
it. This thesis therefore aimed to answer the following research question:
what are the potentials and challenges of public participation in urban
densification projects in Eindhoven and how can the process be facilitated?
The question has been approached from the perspective of all three main
actors in public participation (local government, project initiator, citizens)
and relations between them are sought. The question has been answered
by a literature study and by researching the case of Eindhoven through case
studies, semi-structured interviews, and document analyses. The identified
potentials, challenges and recommendations to facilitate the process
were then validated by an expert meeting. The research also included the
application of the recommendations and organization of public participation
in the project of densifying Kastelenplein in Eindhoven. Synthesizing the
findings of all research methods, it can be concluded that public participation
has plenty of potentials but these are regularly not achieved due to several
challenges encountered in practice. The biggest challenges are for project
initiators to organize an effective public participation process and involve
a representative group of participants. This thesis contributes to solving
these issues firstly by providing recommendations to improve and facilitate
the process of public participation, secondly by offering guidelines to help
project initiators organize public participation, and thirdly by devising a
game method that makes public participation not only valuable but also fun
and with that attract a broader public. Next to its practical relevance, this
thesis is also of academic importance because it combines the perspectives
of all three main actors and does this specifically for urban densification
projects in the Dutch context which has not been done in earlier research.