The Participatory City

Participation has been a focus for urban studies since the 1960s, and in the last decade new research aspects and critical debates on the subject have emerged across a wide range of disciplines. The changing role of planners and the rejection of traditional decision-making processes, as well as the emergence of grassroots initiatives, increasing social inequality and pressing ecological challenges have all redefined the field in recent years. The Participatory City is the first international and interdisciplinary collection of texts encompassing the whole spectrum of the debate within a wide geographical framework. Offering international perspectives on the question of urban participation, the contributors to this volume examine participatory dimensions of social housing, land-use policies, migrant rights, environmental problems and health issues through the exploration of case studies from Chicago, Detroit, London, Mexico City and Bangalore.