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According to contemporary public management concepts, decision making should engage multiple actors and be interactive in nature. Building partnership-based relations between the authorities and the public is becoming increasingly important in managing urban development (Pawłowska, 2007). One solution proposed in response to present-day spatial conflicts is public participation (Deutsch, Coleman, Dylag & Rosiński, 2005). Effective participation requires building interaction between the different participants in urban processes, such as local government, NGOs and businesses. At the same time, the growing public awareness of the possibilities of influencing urban space development have put local governments under an obligation to involve local communities in the decision-making process (Innes & Booher, 2004). Many authors use different definitions of “participation,” which is often preceded by such terms as “civic,” “social,” “public,” “individual,” “community.” In the context of regeneration, the present study uses the term public participation, which means “…collective activities that individuals may be involved in as part of their everyday lives. Others have variously called this kind of social engagement ‘associational life’, collective action, or civil, horizontal or community participation…” (Brodie et al., 2009, p. 5).
In her seminal study entitled A ladder of citizen participation, Arnstein (1969) defines public participation as “…the redistribution of power that enables the have-not citizens, presently excluded from the political and economic processes, to be deliberately included in the future…” (p. 216). Using the ‘ladder of participation’ model, Arnstein discusses eight successive stages of participation, dividing them into three categories: non-participation, tokenism, citizen power (Arnstein, 1969). The potential of participatory processes allows better decision making to be developed at a lower cost, improves the likelihood that agreement can be reached, builds consensus, and increases the credibility of local government action, thus building civil society (Creighton, 2005).
A special emphasis is placed on including residents in regeneration processes. The aim of public consultations is to ensure proper implementation of regeneration projects, counteract social exclusion, and prevent gentrification. Experience with UK regeneration projects shows that the best outcomes are achieved by broad-ranging involvement of residents in consultations and building consensus among various interest groups. Research conducted in Newcastle by Coaffee and Healey (2003) has demonstrated that a large proportion of regeneration efforts undertaken during the implementation of the Going for Growth strategy failed to produce the expected results, especially within areas where voter turnout rates were low and where broad public participation was not ensured. By contrast, the best results of regeneration were achieved by projects where representatives of the local community worked together with local councils (Coaffee & Healey, 2003). Broad inclusion of the local community was ensured in a regeneration project in Bristol. Land owners, local government and stakeholders active within the area to be regenerated were invited to the consultation. Workshops were organised for representatives of local communities, and a “civic forum” was launched to discuss the proposed regeneration activities. Thus, participation took the form of workshops bringing together residents and city officials (Bassett, Griffiths & Smith, 2002).