Love your city! An interactive platform empowering citizens to turn the public domain into a participatory domain

Abstract

In the past years, governments have recognized the potential of interactive technology to bridge the gap with citizens. The right tools and guidance could enhance citizenship and enable co-creation between citizens and (local) governments. However, this opportunity does not automatically lead to a participatory practice. In the current article, we introduce six participation parameters, i.e., certainty, communication, freedom, responsibility, sympathy and support, to guide the design of a means that facilitates people to participate and co-create with other citizens and local government. We describe and reflect upon these parameters and the resulting ‘Love your city’ concept. An interactive platform that allows and empowers citizens to personally tackle issues they encounter in their direct environment, with the aim to contribute to a participatory domain.