Bottom-up initiatives in urban area developments

A bottom-up initiative is a project that is not initiated by the government or institutions (top), but by citizens or end users (bottom). In this research, we study theories that support a bottom-up approach. We also make recommendations on how to ensure that bottom-up initiatives progress better and faster.

The objective of this research is to develop new theoretical insights and strategies for urban area developments, with a strong focus on the bottom-up approach. This research will look at the initiatives and ideas of users or citizens (bottom), rather than the plans of government or institutions (top). Although the bottom-up approach has high added value, initiators are still experiencing many barriers. This research aims to help reduce these barriers.

This research is ongoing. Once completed, the research results will be summarised here.

01 September 2017 - 01 September 2021

The bottom-up processes involved in urbanism are currently often underpinned by very little theory. They are intuitive, trial-and-error processes. Although end users and citizens work with professional parties, streamlining is limited. With this in mind, we study how parties work together and also where improvements are possible.

We will use the knowledge gained to establish a theoretical and academic basis for bottom-up urbanisation.

This will include the factors that determine whether or not a project will be a success. Armed with these insights, it will be possible - for example - to develop new strategies that could involve a combination of a bottom-up and top-down approach.