Genesis and history of social participation in spatial planning

In this study of the genesis and evolution of social participation in spatial planning (sometimes social pressure was also concerned with operative programmes of revitalisation of city districts and this is why the article also discusses social participation in space formation) I have tried to show that this process is of a complex and multidisciplinary character in which various forms of participation, that are now treated separately, intermingled. Public protests or even riots (chaotic participation) forced the authorities to juridise social participation in spatial planning (passing laws on participation forms) and enhancement of the provisions of the existing laws by their instrumentalisation (equipment) in more or less efficient tools of participation (e.g. advocacy planning or J. Fishkin’s deliberative poll). This is treated as the so-called non-statutory form of social participation in spatial planning. In my opinion, this complex and multidisciplinary process is best presented in a way that is subject to chronology rather than to separate treatment of various phenomena. The chronological attitude used in this article shows that social participation in spatial planning is assessed with pessimism. At the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries the pessimist tone prevails in the assessment of the efficiency of social participation in spatial planning. But this article shows that in the 1970s the tone was quite different – full of optimism and hope, mainly concerned with advocacy planning. This should lead us to the conclusion that verifies the goal of this article, that the short history of social participation in spatial planning tells us we should expect further maturation and development of the participation phenomena.