Local consultations on public space management: between political legitimation and citizen empowerment

ABSTRACT

In the last few years the number of local consultations has increased considerably in Catalonia. This formula was extended, from 2014 onwards, not only due to the knock-on effect of the self-determination referendums but also in order to resolve contentious issues related to the symbolic and urban management of public spaces. In this article we present the result of the analysis of four case studies, from which we can conclude that the consultations, in some cases, have served as an instrument for resolving internal conflicts between parties and avoiding electoral costs in the face of certain decisions.

KEYWORDS:

• Local consultations
• direct democracy
• urban space
• symbolic space

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Agència de Gestió d’Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca [grant number 2017DEMOC00009].

Notes on contributors

Xavier Casademont Falguera

Xavier Casademont Falguera is a Serra Húnter Fellow at the University of Girona.

Òscar Prieto-Flores

Òscar Prieto-Flores is an associate professor at the University of Girona.

Quim Brugué Torruella

Quim Brugué Torruella is a full professor at the University of Girona.