Citizen Participation in Design: Roles Evolving in the Face of Contemporary Challenges

Schelings, Clémentine

doi:10.1002/9781394411214.ch5

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Citizen Participation in Design: Roles Evolving in the Face of Contemporary Challenges

Schelings, Clémentine

2025 • In Safin, Stéphane (Ed.) Cognitive Activities in Architectural Design

Peer reviewed

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https://hdl.handle.net/2268/336259

DOI
10.1002/9781394411214.ch5

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Keywords :

citizen creativity; citizen participation; contemporary challenges; participatory design; user-centered design

Abstract :

[en] This chapter looks at how participatory design fits into the broader panorama of participation and maps out the new roles and responsibilities of these “user-designers”. It examines these new roles and responsibilities through the prism of participatory modalities, particularly those deployed in the context of smart cities. The chapter provides a theoretical framework for participatory design by presenting and critiquing various models of citizen participation in design. It then draws on major findings from the scientific literature and on concrete research work rooted in the smart city field, in which citizen participation is becoming common place, to study the evolving roles of citizens and designers in design projects, as well as the contemporary challenges of participatory design. In practice, user-centered design relies more on considering users as subjects of study, whose participation is rather passive and indirect. Creativity is an intrinsic component common to all design activities.

Research Center/Unit :

Inter'Act

Disciplines :

Architecture

Author, co-author :

Schelings, Clémentine ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département ArGEnCo > Composition architecturale

Language :

English

Title :

Citizen Participation in Design: Roles Evolving in the Face of Contemporary Challenges

Publication date :

12 September 2025

Main work title :

Cognitive Activities in Architectural Design

Author, co-author :

Safin, Stéphane

Publisher :

ISTE SCIENCE PUBLISHING Ltd

Peer reviewed :

Peer reviewed

Additional URL :

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/9781394411214.ch5

Name of the research project :

“Wal-e-Cities” project

Funders :

ERDF - European Regional Development Fund
Walloon Region

Funding number :

224577-952620

Available on ORBi :

since 25 September 2025

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