Digital citizen participation

The future of urban democracy

In a world that is increasingly characterized by digitalization, municipalities are faced with the challenge of finding new ways to involve citizens in urban decision-making processes. Digital citizen participation offers a promising solution that not only simplifies participation, but can also improve the quality of urban planning and development.

New possibilities through technology

Digital technologies open up completely new opportunities for communication and interaction between city administrations and their citizens. Social networks, web platforms and short message services are revolutionising the way in which citizens can participate in urban design. Digital visualisation technologies make urban projects understandable even for non-experts and algorithms make it possible to automatically record and analyse opinions and moods from the internet.

Open government and immersion

The open government approach aims to make administration more transparent and accessible. The integration of new technologies such as immersion in virtual worlds and the digitalisation of civic engagement enable new forms of citizen participation.

Flexibility and accessibility

In the city of the future, daily life will be characterised by greater IT-based flexibility. Mobile devices and ambient intelligence systems will allow citizens to quickly and intuitively find out about urban issues and provide feedback.

Big data in urban planning

In future, big data-based opinion research tools will be used to take citizens’ preferences into account in urban planning and development processes. This will make it possible to better assess public-related opportunities, risks and disruptive events and incorporate them into planning options.

Handlungsempfehlungen für die öffentliche Hand zur Förderung der digitalen Bürgerbeteiligung

Um die digitale Bürgerbeteiligung erfolgreich umzusetzen, sollten folgende Schritte berücksichtigt werden:

Improve citizens’ understanding through big data analyses Use data analyses to better understand citizens’ wishes and needs. Promote and integrate existing initiatives Support and integrate existing citizens’ initiatives into the digital platform. Adequately integrate digital forms of participation Select and use digital participation tools that meet the needs of citizens. Case-orientated selection of digital participation tools Selection of tools based on the specific context and requirements of the situation in question.

Creating incentive formats and demonstrating benefits

Develop incentives to encourage participation and make the benefits of digital participation clear to citizens.

Strengthen inter-municipal exchange

Promote exchange between different municipalities in order to benefit from shared experiences.

Expand and develop digital areas of expertise

Invest in the digital education and skills of citizens to enable broader participation.

Who also benefits from digital participation platforms?

Web applications for digital citizen participation can be of interest to a variety of customers who can benefit from such solutions. These include:

Government organisations: Government organisations can use such platforms to gather public opinion on various topics and promote transparent decision-making processes.
Non-profit organisations and NGOs: These organisations can use digital participation platforms to support campaigns, raise awareness and involve the public in their activities.
Educational institutions: Schools and universities can use such platforms for participatory projects to involve students in the design of the campus or in education-related initiatives.
Urban planners and architects: These professional groups can benefit from tools that make it possible to share designs and projects with the public and collect feedback.
Property developers: By involving potential users and residents, developers can gain better insights into the needs and wishes of the target group.
Citizens’ initiatives and local community groups: These groups can use digital platforms to mobilise support for local projects and actively involve the community.
Companies in the public sector: Companies that offer public services can use such platforms to obtain feedback on their services and improve customer satisfaction.

Digitale Bürgerbeteiligungsplattformen sind vielseitig und bieten zahlreiche Vorteile für unterschiedliche Kundensegmente. Sie fördern die Transparenz, erhöhen die Bürgerbeteiligung und verbessern die Entscheidungsfindung in verschiedenen Bereichen. Für TVM-Engineering Services ist es wichtig, die spezifischen Bedürfnisse eines jeden Kunden zu verstehen und maßgeschneiderte Lösungen anzubieten, die den jeweiligen Anforderungen entsprechen.

Summary

As a developer of easy-to-use, web-based software solutions for digital citizen participation, we support local authorities in using these new technologies effectively for the joint design of public spaces. Our solutions are designed to simplify citizen participation, promote transparency and enable citizens to participate more actively in urban development. Together with our partners, we develop customised tools that address issues relevant to the future of our society.

In order to motivate the population to participate digitally, modern marketing and training concepts are required in advance. Suitable software solutions are also the right approach for this, which we can support with our experience in application development, e.g. for educational institutions.