IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/urbstu/v61y2024i1p112-129.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Dialectical approach to unpacking knowledge-making for digital urban democracy: A critical case of Helsinki-based e-participatory budgeting

Author

Listed:
  • Yu-Shan Tseng

    (University of Helsinki, Finland)

  • Christoph Becker

    (Independent Researcher, Belgium)

  • Ida Roikonen

    (University of Helsinki, Finland)

Abstract

This article investigates how OmaStadi, a Finnish platform for digital participatory budgeting, legitimises certain urban knowledge and experiences to receive public resources from the City of Helsinki. Using a quali-quantitative critical case study that combines quantitative data analysis, interviews and participatory observation, we advocate a dialectical approach for unpacking OmaStadi’s potential and limitations for democracy. It represents a socio-technical assemblage of knowledge-making for digital urban democracy in (and beyond) the post-welfare urban context. On the one hand, OmaStadi enforces epistemic enclosures that restrict the scale, object and temporality of urban knowledge that is to be considered legitimate in decision-making based on simple majoritarianism. Such enclosures lead to an individualistic and aggregated democracy. On the other hand, OmaStadi fosters an epistemic opening for democracy when wider publics join to form collective knowledge about ongoing urban struggles against privatisation and the decay of heritage. Our argument goes beyond binary and techno-deterministic analyses of digital knowledge-making and participation to build on emergent studies of digital urban democracy by discussing the democratic potential of cities in the age of platformisation.

Suggested Citation

  • Yu-Shan Tseng & Christoph Becker & Ida Roikonen, 2024. "Dialectical approach to unpacking knowledge-making for digital urban democracy: A critical case of Helsinki-based e-participatory budgeting," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 61(1), pages 112-129, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:61:y:2024:i:1:p:112-129
    DOI: 10.1177/00420980231175247
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00420980231175247
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/00420980231175247?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Toni Ahlqvist & Sami Moisio, 2014. "Neoliberalisation in a Nordic State: From Cartel Polity towards a Corporate Polity in Finland," New Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(1), pages 21-55, January.
    2. Nancy Odendaal, 2021. "Everyday urbanisms and the importance of place: Exploring the elements of the emancipatory smart city," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(3), pages 639-654, February.
    3. Jathan Sadowski, 2021. "Who owns the future city? Phases of technological urbanism and shifts in sovereignty," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(8), pages 1732-1744, June.
    4. Gianpaolo Baiocchi & Ernesto Ganuza, 2014. "Participatory Budgeting as if Emancipation Mattered," Politics & Society, , vol. 42(1), pages 29-50, March.
    5. Postigo, Antonio, 2011. "Accounting for Outcomes in Participatory Urban Governance through State–Civil-society Synergies," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 48(9), pages 1945-1967.
    6. Adrian Smith & Pedro Prieto Martín, 2021. "Going Beyond the Smart City? Implementing Technopolitical Platforms for Urban Democracy in Madrid and Barcelona," Journal of Urban Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(1-2), pages 311-330, April.
    7. Antonio Postigo, 2011. "Accounting for Outcomes in Participatory Urban Governance Through State-Civil-Society Synergies," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 48(9), pages 1945-1967, July.
    8. Greig Charnock & Hug March & Ramon Ribera-Fumaz, 2021. "From smart to rebel city? Worlding, provincialising and the Barcelona Model," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(3), pages 581-600, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Catalina Ortiz, 2024. "Writing the Latin American city: Trajectories of urban scholarship," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 61(3), pages 399-425, February.
    2. Ryan Burns & Victoria Fast & Anthony Levenda & Byron Miller, 2021. "Smart cities: Between worlding and provincialising," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(3), pages 461-470, February.
    3. Matthew Cook & Andrew Karvonen, 2024. "Urban planning and the knowledge politics of the smart city," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 61(2), pages 370-382, February.
    4. Müge Yetkin Ataer, 2022. "Participatory Budgeting: A Critical Approach," Istanbul Journal of Economics-Istanbul Iktisat Dergisi, Istanbul University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 72(72-1), pages 361-384, June.
    5. Irene Buele & Pablo Vidueira & José Luis Yagüe & Fabián Cuesta, 2020. "The Participatory Budgeting and Its contribution to Local Management and Governance: Review of Experience of Rural Communities from the Ecuadorian Amazon Rainforest," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-18, June.
    6. Anthea van der Hoogen & Ifeoluwapo Fashoro & Andre P. Calitz & Lamla Luke, 2024. "A Digital Transformation Framework for Smart Municipalities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-28, February.
    7. Khalid Hasan Al Jasimee & Francisco Javier Blanco-Encomienda, 2023. "A SEM-NCA approach towards the impact of participative budgeting on budgetary slack and managerial performance: The mediating role of leadership style and leader-member exchange," Papers 2310.09993, arXiv.org.
    8. Bipashyee Ghosh & Saurabh Arora, 2022. "Smart as (un)democratic? The making of a smart city imaginary in Kolkata, India," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 40(1), pages 318-339, February.
    9. Mikko Weckroth & Sami Moisio, 2020. "Territorial Cohesion of What and Why? The Challenge of Spatial Justice for EU’s Cohesion Policy," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(4), pages 183-193.
    10. Sami Moisio & Ugo Rossi, 2020. "The start-up state: Governing urbanised capitalism," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 52(3), pages 532-552, May.
    11. Capaccioli, Andrea & Poderi, Giacomo & Bettega, Mela & D'Andrea, Vincenzo, 2017. "Exploring participatory energy budgeting as a policy instrument to foster energy justice," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 621-630.
    12. A. V. Baranov & L. N. Garas, 2022. "«Smart City» in Socio-Political Projection (The Case of Barcelona)," Administrative Consulting, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. North-West Institute of Management., issue 1.
    13. Zhang, Yi & Kimathi, Flora A., 2022. "Exploring the stages of E-government development from public value perspective," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    14. Marika Kettunen & Eeva-Kaisa Prokkola, 2022. "Differential inclusion through education: Reforms and spatial justice in Finnish education policy," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 40(1), pages 50-68, February.
    15. Kukučková Soňa & Bakoš Eduard, 2019. "Does Participatory Budgeting Bolster Voter Turnout in Elections ? The Case of the Czech Republic," NISPAcee Journal of Public Administration and Policy, Sciendo, vol. 12(2), pages 109-129, December.
    16. Sosa López, Oscar & Montero, Sergio, 2018. "Expert-citizens: Producing and contesting sustainable mobility policy in Mexican cities," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 137-144.
    17. Byeongsun Ahn & Michael Friesenecker & Yuri Kazepov & Jana Brandl, 2023. "How Context Matters: Challenges of Localizing Participatory Budgeting for Climate Change Adaptation in Vienna," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(1), pages 399-413.
    18. Jaroslaw Olejniczak & Dorota Bednarska-Olejniczak, 2021. "Participatory Budgets of Polish Major Cities During Covid-19," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(Special 3), pages 983-996.
    19. Byron Miller & Kevin Ward & Ryan Burns & Victoria Fast & Anthony Levenda, 2021. "Worlding and provincialising smart cities: From individual case studies to a global comparative research agenda," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(3), pages 655-673, February.
    20. Romeo-Victor Ionescu & Monica Laura Zlati & Valentin-Marian Antohi, 2023. "Smart cities from low cost to expensive solutions under an optimal analysis," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 9(1), pages 1-34, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:61:y:2024:i:1:p:112-129. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/urbanstudiesjournal .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.