Cultivating Care: Designing Civic Technologies with Citizens and Governments for Urban Green Maintenance

Urban green spaces (UGS) are vital for biodiversity and urban quality of life, but face challenges from climate and limited municipal resources. This study investigates how civic engagement can support the maintenance of UGS as well as the role of digital participation tools, such as gamification, augmented reality (AR) and sensor-based feedback, in promoting engagement in smart cities. Through interviews with citizens and administrative officials in six German cities, along with a participatory design workshop, the study surfaces key tensions between informal citizen-led efforts and formal governance structures. While many citizens are willing to contribute to UGS care, they are often hindered by bureaucratic hurdles and unclear responsibilities. Administrations, although supportive of civic participation, frequently lack the capacity to coordinate or sustain it. Our findings reveal that digital technologies hold potential to support long-term participation if embedded in hybrid governance models that align with technological interventions, institutional processes and community practices. This study contributes to HCI and Digital Civics by highlighting administrative constraints even in digitally progressive municipalities, advocating for hybrid approaches combining digital participation platforms with grassroots engagement and institutional flexibility, and discussing the ethics of persuasive design in participatory processes. Through a grounded digital participation concept, we illustrate that civic technologies, when reimagined as mediators of collective care and trust, are crucial for creating sustainable and inclusive urban green infrastructure.