University supporting effective citizen action. Comparing experiences in challenging landscapes

Resident participation in the planning process emerged as a critical topic in the early 1960s, when many voices rose in opposition to the “top-down” approach of many mainstream planners and planning agencies. Over the years, both in United States and in Europe, a renewed interest in various forms of participatory planning that promote redistributive economic and development policies has developed among planners and practitioners. These various approaches share the common idea that participation can help generate more equitable outcomes during the planning process. Agreeing with the argument that the best form of resident participation is deeply related to the context in which planners operate (Bratt and Reardon, 2009), this article shows how participation has significantly increased in two experiences carried out in different contexts: East Saint Louis (Illinois, USA) and South Catania (Sicily, Italy). In both experiences Participatory Action Research projects have been carried out through a community-university partnership in order to pursue equity in the neighborhoods in which planners, grassroots leaders, and residents operate. Using a comparative method, the article analyzes similarities and differences between the two cases, focusing on the role the universities played in developing the partnership and pursuing the goals identified by the residents and grassroots leaders. It argues that differences in terms of the cultural background, political habits, and behavior of the subjects involved in the two different contexts deeply affect choices made during the process and, consecutively, the results they achieved.