This master thesis explores the nature of public participation as a central and most current subject in the field of urban planning. A first impression exposes a seemingly unanalyzed consensus on the values and benefits which public participation provides the process of urban planning. The city may be a concern to all its inhabitants; hence knowledge and opinions of the local public are of great importance for the urban development. But is there really something new to these assumptions, and are the advantages of increased public participation in urban planning always obvious?   By using action research as a main method, I have put myself into the context of the Swedish municipality of Nacka and their projects dealing with the development of public participation. The research process combines my support in practice and documentation with the investigation of established theories, the public discussion on public participation, as well as the rise of the matter. By doing so this thesis assigns to the task of portraying the current state of public participation in urban planning in a Swedish context.  The case studies, performed in Nacka, reveal what the measures of a municipality consist of and on what goals these initiatives are based, while at the same time investigating whether action researching the local case could generate more general conclusions and guidelines for public participation. The research swiftly leads to a number of reoccurring advocating arguments. These are given ground for by either strengthening or making the planning process more efficient, or by putting emphasis on the democratic aspects of ascribing power and influence to the citizens. Nevertheless there is critique and skepticism as well, highlighted in arguments of inefficiency and incompatibility with representative democracy. Theories on, for instance, multiple publics and Arnstein’s ladder of participation are close at hand, when analyzing the friction between the views and their relevance in practice. Nevertheless, the ongoing debate and discussion turns out to handle the potential conflicts in a general and unproblematized way. One discusses why public participation is important, but rarely how and when. That in itself says quite a bit about the current views on the matter. At that point this action research turns out to generate a valuable discussion and vital posers concerning e.g. clarity and aims when involving citizens, the significance of both phase and level of participation, the role of physical/technical preconditions for dialogue, and the measures required to turn temporary projects into continuous processes and established routines.  The thesis indeed focuses on a specific municipality. However, by connecting a practical case to both ongoing discussions and more or less well known theoretical concepts, it hopefully offers increased apprehension and widening perspectives to planners, regardless of their location.

Dagens befolkning ställs inför många utmaningar där vikten av social hållbarhet har blivit framträdande som en av många nycklar för fungerande samhällen. Ekologisk och ekonomisk hållbarhet tillåter i många avseenden mer mätbarhet. Trots detta är social hållbarhet minst lika viktigt. Vikten av att involvera invånare och demokrati är väsentliga delar för att kunna arbeta för social hållbarhet. Följaktligen fokuserar följande diskurs på arbete och metoder kring invånarinvolvering i gestaltning av offentlig livsmiljö. Med anledning av bristen på tydliga riktlinjer samt för att förstå fördelarna med inkludering av invånare har denna uppsats formulerats. Vidare tar diskursen upp metoder och exempel från verkligheten för att vidareutveckla kompetensen och diskutera vikten av väl implementerade invånarinvolveringsprocesser vid stadsplanering och fysisk planering. Uppsatsen tar avstamp i Helsingborgs stads projekt Nytt stadsbibliotek för att undersöka involveringsmetoderna i samband med utvecklingen av stadens nya bibliotek. Vid gestaltning av arkitektur som ämnar vara en plats för befolkningen - vilka mandat får då invånarna att påverka? Denna abduktiva forskningsansats har skapats med kvalitativa metoder som tillvägagångssätt i egenskap att förstå för- och nackdelar vid involvering. Centralt för uppsatsen har intervjuer med representanter från Helsingborgs stad varit med syfte att fördjupa fallstudien samt diskutera invånarinvolvering som demokratiskt uttryck. Praktiska metoder i kombination med teori och uttalade riktlinjer lyfts upp för att analyseras samt öka kunskapen på ämnet. Trots att olika metoder av involvering inkluderar invånare i olika grader, konkluderar uppsatsen att den högsta graden av inkludering inte nödvändigtvis är den mest optimala. / The current population is faced with many challenges where the importance of social sustainability has become prominent as one of many keys to reach functioning societies. Ecological and economic sustainability are in some regard allowing for more measurability. Despite this, social sustainability is at least as important. The importance of involving citizen and democracy are essential parts of being able to work for social sustainability. Consequently, the following discourse focuses on work and methods around citizens involvement in the design of the public environment. Due to the lack of clear guidelines and in order to understand the benefits of inclusion of citizens this essay has been constructed. Furthermore, the discourse addresses methods and real-life examples to further develop the competence and discuss the importance of well-implemented citizen involvement processes in urban-and physical planning. This essay is based on Helsingborg’s project Nytt stadsbibliotek to investigate the involvement methods in connection with the development of the city’s new library. When designing architecture that aims to be a place for the citizens - what mandates do the residents get to influence? This abductive research approach has been designed with qualitative methods as a way to understand the pros and cons of involvement. Interviews with representatives from the city of Helsingborg have been crucial in the essay with the aim of deepening the case study and discussing citizen involvement as a democratic expression. Practical methods in combination with theory and declared guidelines are highlighted to be analyzed and to increase knowledge on the subject. Although different methods of involvement include citizens to different degrees, this paper concludes that the highest degree of inclusion is not necessarily the most optimal solution.