Forms of public participation in the sustainable development of the city (on the example of the city of Yekaterinburg, Russia)

Abstract

The city space is permeated with structural and functional opportunities for public participation in solving its problems. This is due to both the existence of a regulatory framework and the willingness and intention of citizens to express their opinion through indirect and direct forms of participation. Direct forms of participation, such as voting and referendums, rallies and pickets, arouse greater interest of city residents by their timeliness, adequacy in the presence of well-built communication channels of local government bodies and the population. The results of the survey and expert interviews about the presence of an active public and community in the city of Yekaterinburg indicate both successful stories of interaction and demonstrate the possibilities for growth and improvement of this process. One of such forms of development can be the transfer of communication to the Internet space of the official websites of local governments and social networks.