Participatory Planning: The Features of the Approach in Russia

Abstract

This article is devoted to the features of Russian practices of participatory planning. In the material based on the analysis and excerpts from expert interviews, conclusions are drawn about what the concept of “participatory planning” consists of and what those who are engaged in it put into this concept. It answers the question of why participatory planning, being an essentially universal tool, is used in most cases in landscaping (and is not used, for example, in education or other areas where the end user’s point of view is also important). The difference between participatory planning and manipulation and imitation is touched upon and the article analyzes the reasons for the detachment of the practices of participatory planning from local government. The product and result of the participating design, its effects, and how the sphere of the participatory planning is arranged are determined. The interviewees were key experts who are engaged in participatory planning in Russia. During the unfolding “correspondence” discussion, one can see similar views and contradictions, the complexity and multidimensionality that lie behind this phenomenon.