A systematic literature review furthering the participatory futures and governance debate to capacities

Abstract

Over the past two decades, participatory futures practices have become integral to urban futures studies. While the design, method, and approach of participatory futures processes have been gaining traction, there is a growing recognition that the success of such initiatives hinges on the capacities of local organizations and actors responsible for designing, driving, and governing these discourses. Positioned at the intersection of capacities, participation, and futures governance, this study explores three key questions: How are the capacities required to guide participatory futures conceptualized in the urban context? and what are they? How are the capacities intertwined with the governance of participatory futures? and moreover, whose capacities exert the most significant influence in shaping participatory futures practices? Through a systematic literature review of 43 studies, this research identified four distinct perspectives that further the participatory futures and governance debate to capacities: (1) the institutionalist perspective emphasizes the prescriptive role of structures in facilitating participatory futuring; (2) the organizational perspective highlights the role of system dynamics and participatory cultures within organizations as determinants of effective participatory futuring; (3) the transformative perspective centers on individual actors actions, specifically on their capacity to break away from unsustainable practices in shaping transformative participatory futures; (4) the participatory futures practice-oriented perspective focuses on methods, vision, duration and citizen input integration in participatory futures processes, emphasizing upon reflexivity in methodological aspects of these exercises. Findings reveal that while existing research increasingly prioritizes innovation in participatory methods and approaches, a critical gap remains in examining the capacities that enable immersive and transformative participatory futures processes. A capacity-driven approach to participatory futures practices focused on deliberative citizen empowerment is the need of the hour to advance the co-production of sustainable futures.