Conference article

The Dutch welfare state model has become too expensive. As a result local governments are looking for new approaches that stimulate a participation society. Research showed that for enhancing community participation in order to improve the liveability of a neighbourhood, bonding-, bridging-, and linking social capital are important. The current paper presents the service design process of enhancing citizen participation by strengthening social ties among local stakeholders. An iterative research through design approach has been applied in the actual context of local stakeholders that aim to improve the liveability of their neighbourhood. The paper elaborates upon the design process used as well as the corresponding final design. It can be concluded that the co-creative sessions add new dimensions to citizen participation. The online platform encouraged citizens’ initiative and improved all three kinds of social capital. Moreover, the quality of the citizens’ proposals was beyond expectation and struck the heart of the restructuring program in Rotterdam.

social capital, liveability, citizen participation, connecting stakeholders, research through design, creative facilitation