Citizen participation and acceptance in the context of urban events. An investigation on regional garden shows in Germany

ABSTRACT

Citizen participation and acceptance play an increasingly relevant role in urban and regional development. This also applies to the success and sustainability of urban events. While research on participation is growing rapidly, participation in the context of events is underrepresented. Therefore, I investigate the role of participation and acceptance conditions regarding German regional garden shows using a mixed-methods research design (quantitative survey, multiple case studies). Citizen participation is a central factor for public acceptance. The active participation of volunteers is highly relevant before, during and after the event. Conflicts arise mainly concerning financing, environmental and monument protection.

KEYWORDS:

• Citizen participation
• public acceptance
• urban development
• event
• regional garden show

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) [DI 1641/15-1].