Inclusive Tools for Community-Centred Urban Planning

Using a DPT requires a certain level of digital knowledge and skills. As a result, marginalised communities may be excluded, preventing them from making their voices heard in online consultations or through online voting platforms.

Digital Divide

Despite the potential of DPTs to strengthen citizen participation, ensuring their fair and inclusive implementation remains a challenge. Studies have shown that even when digital platforms are well designed and user-friendly, citizen engagement often declines over time. One of the main barriers to participation is the need for access to technology and digital literacy. A lack of these resources, commonly referred to as the digital divide, can result in the exclusion of marginalised communities.

Limitations of DPTs

Digital Participatory Technologies often rely on standardised designs that do not reflect the needs of marginalised communities. In addition, DPTs frequently use demographic data generated through mathematical models. While this data can provide valuable insights, it tends to oversimplify complex social issues. As a result, it is often too superficial to capture the nuances of people's lived experiences.

Target Group

The project focuses on marginalised communities, including low-income households, migrants, refugees, single-parent families and residents of disadvantaged neighbourhoods.

Method

This project connects theory and practice through three case studies conducted in low-income communities in North and South Holland. Using these case studies, The Hague University of Applied Sciences explores methodologies for deliberative democracy within an iterative design approach. Deliberative democracy is a form of democratic dialogue and decision-making. It is particularly well suited to the iterative design methodology, in which prototypes are repeatedly tested, analysed and refined through continuous cycles of improvement.

Duration

Start: January 2024

Funding

The project is funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO).

Collaboration

For this project, the Civic Technology research group at The Hague University of Applied Sciences collaborates with Juliana E. Gonçalves from Delft University of Technology (TU Delft).

Team

• Nazanin Karimi
• Jos van Leeuwen

Contact

Nazanin Karimi
[email protected]