Public engagement in sustainable urban development: From engagement to co-creation through a smart city approach, Windhoek, Namibia

The City of Windhoek plays a unique role in the social and economic success of Namibia, as the center of international networks and where the government sits, this places a significant responsibility on national and local authorities to sustain the population. Globally, 55% of the world’s population lives in urban areas, a proportion that is expected to increase to 68% by 2050 (UN, 2018). This unparalleled rate of urban growth is creating an urgency to find smarter ways to manage the influxes of urban populations and public participation processes are considered and proven to be an important element for enabling successful sustainable development in a smart city concept because they involve actively engaging the civil society (Brand et al. 2013). This research study identifies current engagement tools used by the City of Windhoek (CoW) and evaluates how they are implemented in practice. Through semi-structured interview sessions and participatory observations at identified public engagement meetings, findings prove that traditional engagement mechanisms, such as public meetings, are still commonly used by the City of Windhoek. City planners are developing their engagement toolbox in order to strengthen public participation, and in turn, reach an audience that reflects and represents the contributions made by the population in urban sustainable development plans. The extent to which engagement tools are resulting in outcomes that are inclusive and representative to the public is difficult to determine because the CoW’s planning division does not require to track the participant’s demographics at public meetings. Reviewing the City of Windhoek’s public participation policy to include indicators such as participants' gender, age, and attendance register to name a few would be a step in the right direction to maintain the new vision- “A Smart and Caring City by 2022”.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Namibia

Year dc:date.issued

2021

Author dc:creator

• Andreas, Elly Disney

• Public engagement
• Smart city concept
• Urban sustainable development

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11070/3140

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.unam.edu.na:11070/3140