Zivilgesellschaft: Integration oder Kräftezerren in Planungsprozessen?

Abstract

The article is an introduction to the work and discussion of the workshop “Civil society: integration or wasted energy in planning processes?”. On the one hand, the article focuses on several conjunctions between the heterogeneous requirements of the civil society and planning authorities. On the other hand, it discusses the conjunction of requirements in different planning processes (top-down or bottom-up). In addition, the authors discuss more abstract aspects of integration, and they question the impact of different pressure groups. Improving the quality of planning processes and planning contents should be the aim of integrating the civil society within planning processes. Furthermore, citizen participation in politics and in decision-making processes can be supported through involvement in planning processes.