Democracy and the City Working Group explores how democratic practices are shaped, challenged, and reinvented in urban contexts. Against the backdrop of the global crisis of democracy, marked by authoritarian backsliding, social inequality, and the erosion of citizen trust, the group focuses on the city as a political actor and as a site of democratic experimentation.

Through transdisciplinary research, comparative case studies, and collaborations between scholars, practitioners, and civic actors, the group investigates how cities such as Berlin and Istanbul develop participatory and inclusive governance practices. Its work emphasizes participatory planning, citizens’ assemblies, urban solidarity networks, and new digital forms of deliberation that aim to transform urban governance from hierarchical to heterarchical, from state-centered to citizen-driven.

Building on a series of international conferences and collaborative publications, the working group serves as a platform for advancing innovative democratic models, strengthening urban solidarities, and reclaiming the city as a locus of democratic imagination and practice.

Members

• Dr. Gulcin Balamir Coskun

• Dr. Tuba Inal Cekic

• Dr. Ertug Tombus

Related Events and Publications

• We, the City: Plurality and Resistance in Istanbul and Berlin (2019) (conference)

• We, the City: Democracy and Innovative Practices of Participation in Berlin and Istanbul (conference) (2-4 November 2022)

• Eric Swyngedouw “Illiberalism and the Democratic Paradox” (lecture) (2 November 2022)

• Reclaiming Democracy in Cities (workshop) (22-23 June 2022)

• Ran Hirschl “Constitution and the Metropolis” (22 June 2022)

• We, the City (Publication)

• Reclaiming Democracy in Cities (Publication)