Reimagining Public Participation in Urban Development: Insights from Bramfischerville, Johannesburg

This paper examines how residents of Bramfischerville, an underprivileged area in Johannesburg, South Africa, perceive public participation in urban development. Drawing on eight months of fieldwork, including six group interviews, a baseline survey ( n = 502), and twenty-three key informant interviews, it contrasts residents’ understandings with conventional interpretations in urban affairs literature. The findings reveal that for residents of Bramfischerville, participation is less about influencing policy and more about gaining recognition and building relationships. Participation is seen as both state-invited and community-initiated, fostering ongoing dialogue through diverse forms of interaction. These culturally and contextually grounded conceptualizations challenge dominant theories that frame participation as a state-led process with predefined roles for the public. The paper argues for reimagining participation theory through the lens of situated knowledge and lived experience, highlighting the need to account for multiple, locally embedded understandings of participation in urban development.