Courses:

Course Info

• Course Number / Code:
• 11.95 (Spring 2007) 
• Course Title:
• Citizen Participation, Community Development, and Urban Governance in the Developing World 
• Course Level:
• Graduate 
• Offered by :
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
  Massachusetts, United States  
• Department:
• Urban Studies and Planning 
• Course Instructor(s):
• Prof. Gianpaolo Baiocchi 
• Course Introduction:
•  
• 
  
  11.950 Citizen Participation, Community Development, and Urban Governance in the Developing World
  
  
  
  

  Spring 2007

  
  
  

  
  
  

  Course Highlights

  
  
  

  
  
  11.950 Citizen Participation, Community Development, and Urban Governance in the Developing World
  
  
  
  

  Spring 2007

  
  
  

  

  This anti-war protest scene illustrates one form of citizen participation. (Image courtesy of Flyover Living on Flickr.)

  
  
  

  Course Description

  
  
  

  Citizen participation is everywhere. Invoking it has become de rigueur when discussing cities and regions in the developing world. From the World Bank to the World Social Forum, the virtues of participation are extolled: From its capacity to "deepen democracy" to its ability to improve governance, there is no shortage to the benefits it can bring. While it is clear that participation cannot possibly "do" all that is claimed, it is also clear that citizen participation cannot be dismissed, and that there must be something to it. Figuring out what that something is — whether it is identifying the types of participation or the contexts in which it happens that bring about desirable outcomes — is the goal of the class.