Participative Planning Processes in the Absence of the (Public) Space of Democracy

This article aims to investigate the role, limits and opportunities of participation programmes in a local political context where consensus-building and inclusionary practices are not high priorities. A public housing neighbourhood in Palermo is used as a case study in order to critically highlight the ambiguous role that participative practices tend to play in fragile contexts. The case study also highlights the need for some preconditions for effective participatory practices in planning. These preconditions are focused on Arendt's notion of the 'space of democracy'. Some concepts developed by Hannah Arendt will be used to explain the necessity of these preconditions, and their relevance to the political discourses of participatory planning processes will be discussed.