Citizen Engagement in City Planning

In today’s spatial planning and policy reforms around the world, citizen engagement is considered fundamental to achieving sustainable and resilient cities’ development. This book uses the case of the City of Kigali, Rwanda, to discuss the notion of citizen participation in urban planning processes as a key determinant of achieving urban sustainability and resilience. The research was conducted through an analysis of planning policy documents in Kigali, followed by interviews with eighteen stakeholders in Kigali urban planning and development. The results reveal a lack of citizen participation in urban planning decision-making in Kigali although the considerable urges in policies and regulations to promote it. The necessity for the active involvement of the community in the city planning process was found; however, barriers to enhancing citizen participation are also significant in Kigali. Participatory approaches can address some of the planning mistakes, but their strength to alter the underlying patterns of overregulated land-use systems remains uncertain.