Citizens initiative

Citizens’ initiatives are the focus of public attention as part of the popular ‘do-democracy’ (associative democracy). However, it is not clear to what extent citizens are able to shape self-organization in a sustainable manner, what the important factors in this respect are and if citizens’ initiatives are the sole preserve of a better educated group of citizens. Through a secondary quantitative analysis of 56 citizens’ initiatives, this article offers an empirical contribution to answering these questions. The authors explore the effects of three possible factors on the sustainability of citizens’ initiatives: the network structure of the citizens’ initiative, the organizational design of the initiative and the revenue model. They show significant relationships between the organizational design of citizens’ initiatives and their sustainability. They also show a relationship between the network structure of these initiatives and their sustainability: initiatives that develop into a fully connected network or a polycentric network are more sustainable than initiatives with a star network. The personal characteristics of the initiators show a dispersal in age, descent, gender and retirement. Relatively speaking, many initiators have a high level of education: 80% has a higher professional or university education. But there are no significant relations between these personal characteristics and the sustainability of citizens’ initiatives.

Mémoire de maîtrise. Faculté d'Architecture, Université de Liège, juin 2015.

L’idée de cette recherche est née d’un double constat concernant les transformations urbaines. D’une part, des initiatives citoyennes pour un « droit à la ville » sont observables à travers le monde, à différentes échelles et sous diverses formes. Elles sont l’expression d’un « droit à la ville », tel qu’introduit par Henri Lefebvre en 1968. D’autre part, cette recherche émerge des différentes critiques relatives aux processus participatifs « traditionnels » qui soulignent les limites de ces démarches et la nécessité, comme le souligne Loïc Blondiaux, de mettre en place de « nouveaux dispositifs » qui, dans le cas de notre recherche, participeraient à la « fabrique de la ville ».

Ces observations mènent dans la première partie de ce travail à nous intéresser aux idées formulées par Lefebvre en 1968 ainsi qu’aux nombreuses réinterprétations de son propos aujourd’hui, tant chez les théoriciens que chez les praticiens de l’urbain. Le constat d’une importance donnée à « l’action collective » nourrit notre questionnement.

Il nous a mené dans la seconde partie de la recherche à étudier l’impact sur le terrain d’initiatives citoyennes collectives variées sur la ville. Les cas d’étude ont été choisis pour investiguer deux types de contexte de prises d’initiatives citoyennes : (1) des « initiatives spontanées » qui émergent directement des citoyens et (2) des « initiatives dans un cadre public », c’est-à-dire, selon notre approche, lorsque des citoyens prennent des initiatives dans le cadre d’un appel à projets public.

A l’aide d’outils d’observation variés, cette recherche s’est construite autour de huit cas d’études: le PARK(ing) Day débuté à San Francisco ; le mouvement Picnic the Streets à Bruxelles ; le Park Fiction à Hambourg ; le mouvement des Incredible Edible débuté à Todmorden ; le CanalPARK Porte de Ninove à Bruxelles ; l’appel à projets « Parklets » à San Francisco ; l’appel à projets « Pla Buits » à Barcelone et l’appel à projets « Quartiers durables citoyens » à Bruxelles en ciblant le quartier « MolenBabbel » à Molenbeek.

Une grille de lecture permet l’analyse de ces cas selon deux volets principaux : l’étude du processus de l’initiative, en mettant l’accent sur trois critères d’observation – à savoir les acteurs, la temporalité et l’échelle – et l’évaluation de leur impact sur la ville, tant au niveau spatial que social :

Quel impact ont-elles sur l’espace ?
Comment peuvent-elles transformer le sens d’un lieu, le « détourner » voire y générer de nouveaux usages ? Comment peuvent-elles améliorer le cadre de vie ? Comment peuvent- elles transformer la perception, le sens d’un lieu aux yeux des usagers?

Quel impact ont-elles sur les habitants ?
Comment ces actions peuvent-elles créer des liens, de nouvelles relations ? Comment ces actions sont-elles reçues par les autres habitants ? Sont-elles acceptées ou critiquées ? Ces actions sont-elles reproduites ? Sont-elles motrices d’autres projets ? Comment peuvent- elles rendre le citoyen « acteur » ?

Cette recherche permet de réaliser des comparaisons riches entre ces cas d’étude et d’observer comment les citoyens façonnent et fabriquent d’en bas la ville aujourd’hui.

In the last decades citizen initiatives of urban action have received extensive attention by scholars for their divergence from highly formalized planning routines, their innovative logics and ways of engaging with city making and with citizens’ unformalized needs. These initiatives of reappropriation have often been regarded by urban scholars as open processes of emergent sensemaking and spaces of freedom, opposed to the institutionalized nature of public administrations. However, current urban theories on the transformative nature of citizen initiatives present an overly optimistic stance, assuming them devoid of institutionalized and oppressive dimensions. Furthermore, these conclusions are drawn from empirical research limited to the initial phases of these initiatives. Considering institutionalization incipient in every social situation con­tinuing in time, the research aims at exploring the institutionalization of citizen initiatives, their learning and innovation processes and the effects of these phenomena on their urban actions, public services and internal democratic practices. The first level of analysis of the research explores synchronically and diachronically two citizen initiatives in France and Slovakia active for two decades. In the second level the thesis explores the engagement of these two initiatives with new problematic situations - specifically two processes of urban transformation - to observe the learning and innovation effects they generate. Adopting a perspective influenced by grounded, internalist, situated, value-critical and dialogical perspectives, the research illustrates that while these initiatives develop processes of habitualization and institutionalization, but they still present a certain level of flexibility; they institute values, routines, roles, practices, knowledges and operations of production of public services that are politically alternative, therefore creating alternative institutions. The thesis also argues that, in a cyclical loop, they can de-institutionalize or suspend part of their routines to tackle new problematic situations, allowing the inclusion of heterodox approaches in their operations. While they have difficulties in absorbing innovations in their institutional dimensions, these de-institutionalized spaces constitute innovative milieux from which other actors can learn and transfer innovations to other initiatives and contexts. Tackling these research themes, the thesis contributes to debates in planning theory and public policy, developing theoretical reflections on the relation between citizen initiatives, institutions and innovation, on the publicization of problems, on the institutionalization of direct action as a strategy to face problematic situations by citizens and on new analytical approaches to radical planning theory.

Las instituciones de la democracia representativa enfrentan un proceso de descrédito y desafección que ha conducido a la búsqueda de mecanismos que permitan renovarla, especialmente a través de la “innovación democrática”. Sin embargo, el diseño defectuoso o el uso improvisado de algunos de estos instrumentos, han generado
nuevos problemas de representación, legitimidad y conexión entra ciudadanía y políticas públicas. En este escenario, esta tesis se centra en un mecanismo de tipo indirecto que en teoría debería de contribuir a paliar la crisis de representación: la Iniciativa de Agenda. Pese a su amplia presencia en los ordenamientos jurídicos de América Latina y de la Unión Europea, así como en el debate político actual, es objeto
de una muy escasa atención académica.
Conforme a la Iniciativa de Agenda (IA) o Iniciativa Legislativa Popular (ILP), indirecta, un grupo de ciudadanos plantea una propuesta normativa ante el legislador, responsable último de la decisión final sobre esa iniciativa surgida “desde abajo”.
La propuesta no conduce a una decisión vinculante sino que persigue instalar el tema en la agenda pública y parlamentaria mientras delega el resultado final al Parlamento. La IA, entonces, puede resultar idónea a la hora de fortalecer la legitimidad democrática al ofrecer, de una parte, la oportunidad de impulsar iniciativas políticas a los representados y, de otra, al dar a los representantes la posibilidad de informar, debatir y, a la postre, decidir sobre cuestiones de interés público, esto es, de argumentar sobre sus decisiones con la ciudadanía. Adecuadamente configurada, debe
de ofrecer un reforzamiento recíproco de los principales actores de la democracia, evitando los efectos de ruptura de la representación que puede originar un referéndum.

This paper explores the roles and practices of collective citizen engagement in spatial planning. Drawing on a selection of core articles in planning scholarship, it investigates how citizens (re-)shape urban places by responding to perceived flaws in how spatial planning addresses societal challenges. Formal planning interventions are often spatially and socially selective, ineffective, or even non-existent due to a lack of institutional capacities and resources. Consequently, citizens take on roles that they consider as missing, underperformed or ineffective. The paper shows that this results in a variety of practices complementary to, independent from, or opposing formal planning actors and interventions. Five dilemmas citizens face are identified, highlighting the tensions that surface on exclusion, participation, and governmental responsibilities when citizens claim their role in urban governance.

El 13 de septiembre de 2017 se presentaba la propuesta de la Comisión Europea para la reforma del Reglamento 11/2011 sobre la Iniciativa Ciudadana Europea (COM (2017)482 final), en proceso de toma en consideración por parte del colegislador comunitario –Consejo y Parlamento Europeo–. La propuesta presenta aspectos favorables de cara al mayor uso y difusión del mecanismo, conforme a una mejora de la accesibilidad formal y una mayor inclusividad en los sujetos y en las materias objeto de iniciativa. No aborda, sin embargo, las deficiencias que se observan en el objetivo central de toda iniciativa de estas características de propulsar el debate político entre representantes y representados. Se proponen aquí fórmulas a fin de superar estas carencias y dotar al mecanismo de mayor eficiencia y alcance.

There are high political and policy expectations of local and voluntary initiatives of citizens collaborating to provide public services themselves. Despite rising attention, existing research lacks systematic knowledge on the actual outcomes of citizen initiatives and on stimulating or hampering factors. Therefore, we present a systematic literature review using the PRISMA approach on citizen initiatives and related terms. The studies show citizens being able to achieve outcomes touching upon a broad range of public values. Furthermore, the review presents contributing factors, like government support and boundary spanning leadership. Yet, the field of citizen initiatives in the social sciences can benefit from more methodological and analytical rigor. We therefore conclude with a conceptual framework for community self-management that identifies relationships between outcomes and relevant factors and discuss future research directions.

In the last decades citizen initiatives of urban action have received extensive attention by scholars for their divergence from highly formalized planning routines, their innovative logics and ways of engaging with city making and with citizens’ unformalized needs. These initiatives of reappropriation have often been regarded by urban scholars as open processes of emergent sensemaking and spaces of freedom, opposed to the institutionalized nature of public administrations. However, current urban theories on the transformative nature of citizen initiatives present an overly optimistic stance, assuming them devoid of institutionalized and oppressive dimensions. Furthermore, these conclusions are drawn from empirical research limited to the initial phases of these initiatives. Considering institutionalization incipient in every social situation con­tinuing in time, the research aims at exploring the institutionalization of citizen initiatives, their learning and innovation processes and the effects of these phenomena on their urban actions, public services and internal democratic practices. The first level of analysis of the research explores synchronically and diachronically two citizen initiatives in France and Slovakia active for two decades. In the second level the thesis explores the engagement of these two initiatives with new problematic situations - specifically two processes of urban transformation - to observe the learning and innovation effects they generate. Adopting a perspective influenced by grounded, internalist, situated, value-critical and dialogical perspectives, the research illustrates that while these initiatives develop processes of habitualization and institutionalization, but they still present a certain level of flexibility; they institute values, routines, roles, practices, knowledges and operations of production of public services that are politically alternative, therefore creating alternative institutions. The thesis also argues that, in a cyclical loop, they can de-institutionalize or suspend part of their routines to tackle new problematic situations, allowing the inclusion of heterodox approaches in their operations. While they have difficulties in absorbing innovations in their institutional dimensions, these de-institutionalized spaces constitute innovative milieux from which other actors can learn and transfer innovations to other initiatives and contexts. Tackling these research themes, the thesis contributes to debates in planning theory and public policy, developing theoretical reflections on the relation between citizen initiatives, institutions and innovation, on the publicization of problems, on the institutionalization of direct action as a strategy to face problematic situations by citizens and on new analytical approaches to radical planning theory.

En el marco del debate sobre el déficit democrático de la UE y del creciente distanciamiento entre ciudadanos e instituciones, la ICE ofrece para aquellas propuestas que cuenten con el apoyo de un millón de europeos la posibilidad de activar el procedimiento legislativo ordinario. Se plantean aquí las características, bondades y limitaciones de este nuevo instrumento de democracia directa-el primero de estas características a escala supranacional-, a la vista de la experiencia de sus dos primeros años de funcionamiento y en comparación con otras herramientas similares de los ordenamientos nacionales de los Estados miembros de la UE. Frente a aquellos mecanismos con efectos jurídicos vinculantes, la ICE ofrece un sistema de fijación de agenda política con potencial para el desarrollo del debate público a escala europea y, de no quedar a expensas de los grupos de presión, para el fortalecimiento de los partidos políticos europeos. Corresponde a los ciudadanos evitar su posible instrumentalización aún cuando, en buena medida, el éxito del nuevo instrumento dependerá del apoyo político e institucional que reciba, tanto a nivel europeo como nacional. Todo ello, en el contexto de la actual situación de grave crisis económica y social que padece la UE.

Legal regulation and recent practice concerning the institution of citizens' legislative initiative (people's initiative) in the Principality of Liechtenstein.
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Regulacja prawna i najnowsza praktyka dotycząca instytucji inicjatywy ustawodawczej obywateli (inicjatywy ludowej) w Księstwie Liechtenstein

With a point of departure in a Bourdieusian framework, the chapter studies dynamics between participatory policymaking and the citizenry’s political agency in a gentrifying neighborhood in Amsterdam East. The analysis shows that gentrifiers, through their community building efforts and resourcefulness, are capable of creating political opportunities for the citizenry to become co-producers in the field of local policy implementation; this enabled social mobility and a creation of a civic democratic culture. At the same time, this alternative field of participation is not immune to reproducing effects related to gentrification and voluntarism.

Theorists’ calls to improve citizens’ policy deliberations by enhancing the quality of the information that forms the basis of those deliberations highlight the question of how to evaluate deliberative information. To address that question, this paper synthesizes numerous standards proposed for evaluating deliberative information into a framework of five broad criteria: credibility, relevance, accessibility, applicability, and validity (“CRAAV”). The paper then demonstrates the use of the framework through an application to the Citizens’ Initiative Review. The results suggest that the CRAAV framework is a valuable resource for assessing deliberative information. In addition, the results underscore the potential of the Citizens’ Initiative Review to improve the quality of information that citizens employ in deliberating about ballot initiatives, by incorporating desirable features of several existing sources of initiative information into a single resource produced by citizens, for citizens.