The lecture shows the challenges and opportunities of participatory planning through a series of concrete experiences from the field.

Planners and scholars of urban studies have acknowledged the potentialities of participatory planning since the 1960s. Today, the emphasis on participation increasingly permeates both academic conversations and policy debates. Participation is often invoked as a panacea, a universally applicable recipe able to ensure equitable and fair outcomes in city design and city management. But participation is a tool rather than a goal and in the field planners and policy makers face many challenges to use it properly. What strategies are to be implemented in order to ensure the effectiveness of participatory techniques at all scales remains an open question.

The lecture will address these issues by showing practical examples of different participatory processes, across the world. Doctor Maceratini will discuss the potentialities and challenges of participation in diverse contexts, by providing examples of projects that she worked on. Maceratini will present participatory planning processes that she designed and managed in the framework of her work with Keios Development Consulting in Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East. She will also present some of the projects of public space renewal that she coordinated for the NGO Interazioni Urbane in the outskirts of Rome, Italy.

This video is part of UN-Habitat’s Global Urban Lecture series. The Global Urban Lectures are 15-minute lectures on themes related to sustainable urbanisation, delivered by renowned experts, UN-Habitat partners and UN-Habitat staff.
Find all seasons and full packages at https://unhabitat.org/urbanlectures