Den demokratiska staden?

Sammanfattning: In the last couple of decades we have been witnessing a proliferation of both novel and more experimental forms of public participation within the field of Swedish planning discourse. The spread of participation and inclusion in the urban planning can both be seen as a result of an increased political disenchantment of the representative democratic system as well as an attempt, by the bureaucracy, to integrate the citizens' local knowledge to guide administrators and solve current societal problems. From the case of Drottninghög the aim of this thesis is to provide an empirical insight into the development of citizen dialogue in the city of Helsingborg and explore, from an established democratic norm, if they can be democratic justified. In particular, the essay highlights the importance of citizens' participation and influence in the planning process and the fundamental democratic values of political equality and diversity that the city planning affects when the urban landscape is being transformed. Based on this framework and drawing on material from Helsingborg’s municipality, the essay concludes that the citizen dialogues have both been deep and continuous but that the project lacks when it comes to values such as participant control of the agenda and political equality.