Participatory decision making as an innovative context of urban law: expectations of Russian citizens

Abstract

The study presents the results of a sociological study conducted in three cities of Russia in order to identify the needs of citizens in the legal consolidation of the opportunities and results of their participation in urban decision-making. The survey was conducted in 2020. The participatory principle logically implies the identification of the opinion of the society itself – not only about the subjects, but also about the rules of collective discussions. The data collection method used in the study was a mass semi-formalised interview. It was identified that the global trend towards the participation in urban decision-making is quite consistent with the expectations of Russian residents who already have experience of such participation. It has been determined what rights citizens need, what responsibilities of the city authorities are considered necessary to establish, what procedures, in the opinion of the citizens, should be consolidated as mandatory in participatory technologies. The identified expectations are largely consistent with the legal objectives noted in the world scientific literature in the context of the development of the participatory principle. However, the practice of governance in Russia, especially in provincial cities, is still lagging behind the demands of a modern active, competent, and demanding society. The novelty of the study is conditioned by the fact that the scientific literature has been lacking coverage of such an aspect of the legal support of participatory decision-making as the expectations of citizens themselves related to the establishment of rights and procedures.