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Spurred by the development of the World Wide Web over the past three decades, all social spheres were influenced by the "Information- and Communication Technology" (ICT). The growing access to personal computers, the introduction of mobile devices as well as the ubiquitous access to internet drive digitalisation as one of the most impactful topics of our time. Besides the increased access and usage of digital technologies, the term "digitalisation" also characterises a transformation of the way we humans think, act and address societal challenges (Münchner Kreis e.V., 2017). The digital transformations will influence more and more aspects of our daily life in terms of everyday interactions, political participation and the way we work, commute or consume. The digitalisation and with it, the emerging technologies allow for new innovative ways of engagement of the wider public affecting, in particular, the field of urban spatial planning (Bizjak, 2012). Urban planning resides at the intersection of citizens, policymakers, and industry, and in that their various needs and wishes. Therefore, the described digital advances provide a unique opportunity to bridge the gap between these different stakeholders (Anttiroiko, 2012) converging to joint and high-quality planning results and consequently increasing the quality of communication (Nikšič et al., 2017). Digital formats foster the potential of a more cost-effective, transparent, faster, widely consensual urban planning process that integrates local knowledge (Brabham, 2009; Sieber et al. 2016; Korpilo et al., 2017; Wolf et al., 2015; Sangiambut & Sieber, 2016).
The ongoing digitalisation of urban planning did result – amongst others – in (i) advanced software tools for planning and design (e.g. CAD, 3D-Visualisation, traffic simulation) and (ii) digital models buildings and environments (e.g. digital twin, Building Information Model (BIM), City Information Model (CIM)). Nowadays, buildings and entire cities can be explored, planned, analysed and simulated virtually. Furthermore, distinct functions, options, and characteristics of buildings can be discussed and evaluated before being physically constructed. “The interplay of social and technological innovation has the potential to transform the governance of our cities” and thus put innovative digital solutions in the centre of municipal tasks, infrastructure operations and urban planning (Ludlow et al., 2017). However, the last step towards innovation as the diffusion and comprehensive application of new methods (Rogers, 1995) needs to be accomplished, still: Cities in Germany are only starting to dip into this topic, e.g. by setting up digital platforms for participation (citizenlab, 2017).
To be accomplished, tools and application build for urban planning need to consider the following two aspects: Firstly, the digital devices must be designed considering the needs of the users to ensure their sustainable application and effectiveness. Secondly, digital urban planning must enable and drive public participation, connect stakeholders, and embrace their diversity in knowledge.
In this work, the authors investigate a variety of digital tools to improve public participation in the context of urban planning, more precisely urban neighbourhood development. The authors consider the term "neighbourhood" as an essential place for integral urban development that corresponds to a spatially defined city unit (BMVBS, 2013). The research literature focuses on its depiction of digital tools for participation mainly on either the development of design alternatives for new or revitalised neighbourhoods (Stern, 2009). In this paper, different digital tools for eParticipation in urban neighbourhood development are evaluated in light of the urban neighbourhood lifecycle, including stages such as design, planning, construction, operation, revitalisation. The multitude of stakeholders required in urban development processes is introduced. Besides insights from the literature and discussions with experts, this paper draws on experiences from three urban planning projects in Germany. The authors propose a system based on the planning stages and participation intensity. Ultimately, an outlook on potential future developments in digital urban planning with a particular emphasis on public participation is provided.