Citizen participation for sustainable cities

The document outlines how involving citizens in urban planning and investment decisions can lead to more innovative sustainable solutions and reduce inequalities. It describes various levels of participation—from informing to empowering—and provides examples of tools such as participatory budgeting, citizen juries, and digital platforms to enhance democratic processes in cities.

• Involving citizens helps municipalities identify sustainable solutions tailored to local contexts and builds the necessary consensus and momentum for implementing new ideas.
• Participatory budgeting is highlighted as a successful democratic innovation that grants citizens direct power over public spending; for example, Paris allocated €100 million to this process in 2016, resulting in projects like urban school gardens and refugee centers.
• The document notes a risk that participation initiatives may lack diversity, as they often attract a relatively well-educated group of long-term participants, necessitating a conscious effort to ensure inclusive processes.
• Digital tools, such as e-petitions and platforms like CitizenLab, Maptionnaire, or coUrbanize, offer opportunities to expand the reach of participatory methods, particularly among young people, and simplify the integration of quantitative data into decisions.

APA

Nilsson, A., Vanhuyse, F., Arra, V., Requena, A., & Agerström, M. (2021). Citizen participation for sustainable cities. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/factsheet-citizen-participation-for-sustainable-cities.pdf

Chicago

Nilsson, Astrid, Fedra Vanhuyse, Venni Arra, Alicia Requena, and Magnus Agerström. Citizen participation for sustainable cities. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2021. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/factsheet-citizen-participation-for-sustainable-cities.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Nilsson |first1=Astrid |last2=Vanhuyse |first2=Fedra |last3=Arra |first3=Venni |last4=Requena |first4=Alicia |last5=Agerström |first5=Magnus |title=Citizen participation for sustainable cities |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=March 2021 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/factsheet-citizen-participation-for-sustainable-cities.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{nilsson2021citizen, author = {Nilsson, Astrid and Vanhuyse, Fedra and Arra, Venni and Requena, Alicia and Agerström, Magnus}, title = {{Citizen participation for sustainable cities}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2021}, month = mar, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/factsheet-citizen-participation-for-sustainable-cities.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }