Level of participation in land development: The case of Almere, Netherlands

The actors and processes change in the stages of the land development process, and the involvement of the changing actors and processes in the process is at different levels. This involvement and the dimensions of the participation of the actors may differ according to the planning approaches and practices of the country where the project is developed. Participation discussions, especially after the 2000s, have led to an increase in the practices aimed at including citizens and other actors in the planning processes. In residential land development processes, examining the balance of power between actors and participation has gained importance over the years. The dimensions of participation at each stage in land development processes are the subject of the research. This research examines the city of Homeruskwartier, Almere, Netherlands, in order to explore the dimension of participation in the land development stages. It accepts Arstein's Citizen Participation Ladder and institutional land development theory as the theoretical basis. The level of participation in the institutional land development stages of the examined example was evaluated. The findings of the study determined that the stage with the highest participation in Homeruskwartier is the construction focused on self-organization. The study also found that participation was not concentrated in a single stage in the design of the project carried out to meet the need for social housing, and that it had an effect in other stages as well. Homeruskwartier is a successful participatory and self-organization-focused housing project. It is expected that the findings of this study will form a basis for policy developers and decision-makers to create participatory land development models.