Het politieke terugvinden in participatie: Mogelijkheden en beperkingen voor democratische stedelijke planning in Singapore

This research centres on the depoliticisation of public participation in the urban planning of Singapore. This depoliticisation refers to the reduction of participation from a political process that opens up possibilities for transforming the socio-political order and producing alternative imaginings of the city, to a technocratic and managerial process that preserves the status quo. Planning, governance, and development studies on this phenomenon have largely emphasised the use of technical rationality in depoliticising participation, as well as the pursuit of radical democratic politics in repoliticising it. This research aims to advance these debates by examining the extra-technical mechanisms that enable the depoliticisation of participation, and the non-adversarial means and strategies used to navigate and counter it, particularly under urban governance conditions that are both post-political and (post-)developmental with authoritarian legacies. The research takes the nation state of Singapore as a case study that illustrates these conditions. The findings reveal that the dynamics between the de- and re-politicisation of participation in Singapore's planning involve a complex intertwining of the political and post-political. While broader structural transformation is unlikely to ensue, this intertwining can nevertheless lead to localised shifts towards more democratic planning and governance for certain types of citizens. These democratic shifts help to improve the overall spatial outcomes, by fulfilling the wider societal needs that fall within the blind spots of a technocratic, economically competent government like Singapore's. This research therefore underscores the importance and advantages of having a more diverse participatory sphere - where civil society-led activism, advocacy, and political engagement are given the same degree of legitimacy as state-led participatory processes and apolitical, service-based volunteerism.