Category: publication

Public participation in the mobility transition: potential and limitations for acceptance and sustainability

In this article, published in the Handbuch Verkehrspolitik (Handbook of Transport Policy), Tobias Escher, Laura Mark and Katharina Holec summarise the current state of research on the impact of local public participation on the transport transition.

Summary

Local authorities are increasingly turning to consultative forms of public participation when planning for the mobility transition. The aim is to increase public acceptance of these measures, which are often the subject of heated debate, and to improve planning through new ideas. However, as the article explains, there is as yet little empirical evidence to support this. Research to date shows that, whilst these hopes can at least be partially realised, this depends on an interplay of factors that is not yet fully understood.

Results

  • Public institutions are increasingly relying on public participation in mobility planning. The public is invited to develop ideas or provide feedback on existing plans. Within these ‘invited spaces’, members of the public have an advisory role only and no decision-making power. These formats are being demanded by the public and are linked in particular to the hope that local expertise will help lead to better policy decisions and increase acceptance of transport transition measures, which are often the subject of critical debate. The article demonstrates that there is currently a lack of robust evidence to support this.
  • Based on the research carried out as part of the CIMT project, it can be demonstrated that consultations do indeed influence citizens’ attitudes, although this influence is not always positive. In particular, those who actively participate in the consultation process are more likely to be dissatisfied with the measures adopted and the stakeholders responsible for them.
  • Although satisfaction with local decision-makers is most closely linked to how people rate the measures that have been adopted, the importance of the consultation is particularly evident among those who do not succeed in having their interests (fully) represented. This is because they, too, rate local decision-makers more highly if they are satisfied with the participatory process. For these positive effects it is not necessary to have actively participated oneself.
  • In terms of policy impact, it is clear that consultative participation can have a meaningful effect and be valuable for the mobility transition, but in many cases it is not sufficient on its own to bring about the necessary changes. Precisely because public institutions do not relinquish decision-making power within the framework of ‘Invited Spaces’, this approach can only go so far in breaking down the established car-centric planning system. Under the right circumstances, ‘Claimed Spaces’ are in a better position to exert pressure on decision-makers, as was the case, for example, with the ‘Radentscheid’ in Hamburg.

Publication

Escher, Tobias, Laura Mark, und Katharina Holec. 2026. „Bürger:innenbeteiligung an der Verkehrswende: Potentiale & Grenzen für Akzeptanz und Nachhaltigkeit“. In Handbuch Verkehrspolitik, Hrsg. Oliver Schwedes, Alexander Rammert, und Kerstin Stark. Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden, 1–19. doi:10.1007/978-3-658-04777-1_66-1.

Citizen Participation in the Mobility Transition: How Consultations Influence Trust and Satisfaction

In this article in the journal Journal für Mobilität und Verkehr, Tobias Escher and Katharina Holec examine the influence of public consultations on political attitudes. The focus is on the effects of participation and process evaluation.

Summary

Municipal mobility projects often generate conflict, as measures related to the transport transition affect diverse interests. Participatory processes are intended to help mitigate these conflicts—but how do they actually influence public attitudes?

The underlying study examines mobility consultations in Hamburg, Marburg, and Offenburg. The central finding is that not only the planning outcome, but also the design of the participatory process shapes citizens’ satisfaction and their attitudes toward political decision-makers. Transparent, comprehensible, and well-communicated processes have particularly positive effects—not only on participants themselves, but also on individuals who have merely heard about the process.

Results

The survey results show that mobility consultations do have effects on satisfaction and acceptance, although these effects are heterogeneous:

  • Those who are satisfied with the adopted measures evaluate political actors significantly more positively.
  • The participatory process has an additional effect—even without active participation. A well-designed process increases satisfaction even when the measures do not align with one’s own interests.
  • Active participation is initially associated with greater dissatisfaction. However, good process design can substantially reduce this effect.
  • Despite differences between cities and procedures, similar patterns emerge: The perception of the process is just as important for overall evaluation as the outcome itself.

Overall, the analysis demonstrates that participation alone cannot resolve the conflicts associated with the transport transition. However, well-designed consultations improve both satisfaction with the measures and evaluations of political decision-makers—beyond the group of actual participants.

Publication

Escher, Tobias; Holec, Katharina (2026): Bürger*innenbeteiligung an der Verkehrswende: Die Wirkungen von Konsultationen zur Verkehrsplanung auf die Einstellungen der Bevölkerung. Journal für Mobilität und Verkehr (26): 22–30. DOI: 10.34647/jmv.nr26.id243.

Publication: Socio-spatial justice through public participation? A mixed-methods analysis of distributive justice in a consultative transport planning process in Germany

Our presentation at the annual congress of the AESOP (Assosiation of European Schools of Planning) in 2022 has now been followed by a publication in the journal Case Studies on Transport Policy. Using qualitative and quantitative data, the contribution to socio-spatial justice was examined for the case study of the consultative planning process on the Elbchaussee in Hamburg.

Summary

The transport system contributes to significant socio-spatial injustices, both through its environmental impact and its structural disadvantages for certain groups. While public authorities increasingly include elements of public participation in planning processes it remains unclear whether this results in greater socio-spatial justice.
To explore this question, the study examines socio-spatial justice as distributive justice and investigates how consultative planning contributes to sustainability and addresses the needs of disadvantaged groups. For this
purpose, the case of the Elbchaussee reconstruction in Hamburg, Germany, is analyzed. Drawing on both qualitative and quantitative data including expert interviews and a public survey, the study finds that the planning process led to modest improvements, such as better conditions for pedestrians and cyclists, which promote ecological sustainability and benefit non-male groups. However, these outcomes fall short of participants’ expectations, and the few positive changes cannot be directly linked to public input. The findings suggest
that current public participation practices do not automatically lead to greater socio-spatial justice. Achieving this requires more inclusive participation formats, greater influence for participants, and a more explicit focus on
socio-spatial justice in planning.

Key Findings

  • The consultative planning process as a whole resulted in measures that contribute slightly to socio-spatial justice, since they support the transition to more sustainable mobility and will benefit some disadvantages groups, though both to a limited degree.
  • We find that the consultation procedure had no significant influence on the policy. In terms of socio-spatial justice, no positive effects can be traced back to the consultation procedure. Notably, those that participated in the consultation did indeed report less satisfaction with the measures.
  • We trace those limited contributions back to some general features of consultation and the current planning system, but also find that in the case study the scope of possible influence was very limited due to external restrictions and power imbalances.

Publication

Mark, L., Holec, K., & Escher, T. (2025). Socio-spatial justice through public participation? A mixed-methods analysis of distributive justice in a consultative transport planning process in Germany. Case Studies on Transport Policy , 20, Article 101467. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cstp.2025.101467

Results of our research in Hamburg-Altona (Elbchaussee reconstruction): Final presentation

In a joint meeting with a representative of the Landesbetrieb, Straßen, Brücken und Gewässer (State Office for Roads, Bridges and Waters, LSBG) of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg on 15 May 2023, the research group presented the results of the surveys in connection with the participation process for the redevelopment of the Elbchaussee (Elbchaussee Dialogue). The Elbchaussee redevelopment was one of a total of five planning projects that were intensively analysed by the CIMT research group over several years in order to investigate the effects of consultative citizen participation on political attitudes, among other things.

Various participation formats were carried out as part of the planning process, e.g. online dialogues and workshops. Further information on the Elbchaussee dialogue and the participation formats carried out can be found on the website of the LSBG.

This planning and participation process was analysed by the CIMT research group at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf independently (i.e. without being commissioned or influenced by the City of Hamburg), primarily with the help of stakeholder interviews and surveys of residents in Altona. For this purpose, a randomly selected part of the population was surveyed in selected neighbourhoods in Altona in 2021. Further information on the research group’s surveys can be found here.

Selected results

  • Participants in the participation process had a high social status (education, income), were significantly older, often male – cyclists and car drivers!
  • Motive for participation in particular: To influence a decision.
  • There is a tendency to perceive a lack of influence of participation on the political decision.
  • This is consistent with the results of the stakeholder interviews and the document analysis. Here, too, the policy impact of the consultation is rather low.
  • Restrictions due to paradigms and requirements from higher political levels were particularly obstructive.
  • Nevertheless, the planning process and its results were assessed quite positively by the public overall, but the participants showed a more negative assessment of the results of the planning process.
  • The process has an influence on satisfaction with local institutions.

It should be noted that the presentation essentially represents the status of the findings in spring 2023. Additional analyses have been carried out since then. The results of this case study are therefore presented in more detail in Laura Mark`s dissertation.

Downlad the presentation (in German)

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Results of our surveys in Marburg (MoVe 35): Final presentation

As part of a joint digital exchange with the city administration of the city of Marburg (including citizen participation and transport planning) on September 25, 2024, the research group presented the results of the surveys in connection with the participation process for the MoVe 35 mobility and transport concept. The MoVe 35 project was one of a total of five planning projects that were intensively investigated by the CIMT research group over several years in order to examine the effects of consultative citizen participation on political attitudes, among other things.

Various participation formats were carried out as part of the planning process, e.g. an online survey, workshops, a project advisory board and an online dialog on public transport. A (council) referendum was also held in connection with the mobility concept. Further information on the MoVe 35 project and the participation formats used can be found on the city of Marburg’s website.

This planning and participation process was examined by the CIMT research group at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf independently (i.e. without being commissioned or influenced by the city of Marburg), primarily with the help of surveys of Marburg residents. For this purpose, a randomly selected part of the population in Marburg was surveyed in 2021 and 2024. Further information on the research group’s surveys can be found here.

Selected results

  • As in all of our project areas, transport policy and the transport transition are conflicting issues. In Marburg, however, there is a particularly clear contrast between the educational groups. For example, the majority of people without a high school diploma reject the idea of reducing space for car traffic in the future, while almost half of those with a high school diploma can imagine doing so.
  • Supporters and opponents of the mobility transition were similarly represented in the participation process. It was noticeable that an above-average number of car drivers took part in Marburg.
  • The measures envisaged as part of Move 35 are viewed positively by the majority of people with high education in order to achieve the goals of sustainable mobility – in contrast to people without high education.
  • The very different assessments of the two educational groups are also evident in the (planned) voting behavior for the referendum on halving car traffic: the majority of people with high education are in favor, the majority of people with low education are against, and participants in the consultation process are divided.
  • Although satisfaction with the local institutions (mayor, city administration, council) was slightly better overall than in other project areas, it deteriorated significantly between 2021 and 2024 among people with low education.
  • The information on the participation process reached a large part of the population. Nevertheless, it was mainly highly educated middle-aged men who took part – typical of consultative participation. It had a relatively large impact on citizens’ satisfaction with the mayor, administration and council. As expected, people who welcome the measures of MoVe 35 tend to be more satisfied, while those who reject the measures express greater dissatisfaction.

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A prepared form of the results presentation can be downloaded here:

Results of our surveys in Offenburg (OG 2035): Final presentation

In a joint meeting with representatives from the city of Offenburg’s urban development and transport planning departments on October 11, 2024, the research group presented the results of the surveys conducted in connection with the participation process for the OG 2035 Transport Master Plan. The Transport Master Plan OG 20235 was one of a total of five planning projects that the CIMT research group studied intensively over several years in order to investigate the effects of consultative citizen participation on political attitudes, among other things.

Various formats were carried out as part of the planning process, e.g. online dialogs, workshops, local forums, youth participation and the establishment of pop-up measures. Further information on the OG 2035 project and the participation formats carried out can be found on the City of Offenburg website.

This planning and participation process was examined by the CIMT research group at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf independently (i.e. without being commissioned or influenced by the city of Offenburg), primarily with the help of surveys of Offenburg residents. For this purpose, a randomly selected part of the population in Offenburg was surveyed in 2021 and 2023. Further information on the research group’s surveys can be found here.

Selected results

  • Transport policy and the transport transition are conflicting issues in Offenburg – just like in all other project areas examined. All opinions were represented in the participation process, although those in favor of the mobility transition were somewhat stronger and car users were also less common.
  • Satisfaction with the local institutions (mayor, city administration, council) is rather average overall (and slightly worse than in other project areas) and deteriorated significantly from 2021 to 2023 in particular.
  • The transport measures adopted as part of the OG 2035 master plan do not satisfy all interests, but overall only a minority (20-25%) are really against them. People who took part in the participation process rate the results more positively overall.
  • As with most open participation formats, the participants are not representative of the population. They are mainly people with a high school diploma, middle-aged people and men.
  • The participation process had a (comparatively low) and overall negative influence on satisfaction with local politics and administration, whereby the city administration was rated more positively than the mayor and council, especially by the consultation participants. As expected, people who welcome the measures of OG 2035 tend to be more satisfied, while those who reject the measures express greater dissatisfaction.

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Results of our surveys in Marburg (MoVe 35): Final presentation

As part of a joint digital exchange with the city administration of the city of Marburg (including citizen participation and transport planning) on September 25, 2024, the research group presented the results of the surveys in connection with the participation process for the MoVe 35 mobility and transport concept. The MoVe 35 project was one of a total of five planning projects that were intensively investigated by the CIMT research group over several years in order to examine the effects of consultative citizen participation on political attitudes, among other things.

Various participation formats were carried out as part of the planning process, e.g. an online survey, workshops, a project advisory board and an online dialog on public transport. A (council) referendum was also held in connection with the mobility concept. Further information on the MoVe 35 project and the participation formats used can be found on the city of Marburg’s website.

This planning and participation process was examined by the CIMT research group at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf independently (i.e. without being commissioned or influenced by the city of Marburg), primarily with the help of surveys of Marburg residents. For this purpose, a randomly selected part of the population in Marburg was surveyed in 2021 and 2024. Further information on the research group’s surveys can be found here.

Selected results

  • As in all of our project areas, transport policy and the transport transition are conflicting issues. In Marburg, however, there is a particularly clear contrast between the educational groups. For example, the majority of people without a high school diploma reject the idea of reducing space for car traffic in the future, while almost half of those with a high school diploma can imagine doing so.
  • Supporters and opponents of the mobility transition were similarly represented in the participation process. It was noticeable that an above-average number of car drivers took part in Marburg.
  • The measures envisaged as part of Move 35 are viewed positively by the majority of people with high education in order to achieve the goals of sustainable mobility – in contrast to people without high education.
  • The very different assessments of the two educational groups are also evident in the (planned) voting behavior for the referendum on halving car traffic: the majority of people with high education are in favor, the majority of people with low education are against, and participants in the consultation process are divided.
  • Although satisfaction with the local institutions (mayor, city administration, council) was slightly better overall than in other project areas, it deteriorated significantly between 2021 and 2024 among people with low education.
  • The information on the participation process reached a large part of the population. Nevertheless, it was mainly highly educated middle-aged men who took part – typical of consultative participation. It had a relatively large impact on citizens’ satisfaction with the mayor, administration and council. As expected, people who welcome the measures of MoVe 35 tend to be more satisfied, while those who reject the measures express greater dissatisfaction.

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A prepared form of the results presentation can be downloaded here:

CIMT_AP_Marburg_20250320_öffentlichHerunterladen

Acceptance for transformation projects through public participation? A plea for more realism

In this article in the eNewsletter Netzwerk Bürgerbeteiligung, Tobias Escher, Katharina Holec and Laura Mark make the argument for a more realistic view of the role of citizen participation in the sustainability transformation. Based on four theses, they explain that conflict resolution – even though this is often associated with participation – does not do justice to the role of public consultations, but that consultations are nevertheless indispensable in the political shaping of transformation.

Summary

The article puts forward a total of four theses, each of which is supported by findings from the research of the CIMT project. These are as follows:

  • Thesis 1: Citizen participation can lead to mutual understanding, but generally not to a consensus on fundamental conflicts of interest.
  • Thesis 2: Citizen participation provides an insight into existing interests and concerns, but not a representative impression of public opinion
  • Thesis 3: The results of participation do not guarantee support for sustainable transformation measures.
  • Thesis 4: Citizen participation is a support, but not a substitute for political decisions.

However, this does not imply that citizen participation can be dispensed with! Instead, good participation can provide support by giving information and thus, for example, overcome resistance that is primarily based on a lack of knowledge. It also uses local knowledge to recognise problems and develop new ideas where necessary. Finally, it provides a forum in which wishes and concerns can be expressed and arguments exchanged. This can lead to less protest. It can help to identify lines of conflict more clearly and to better understand the causes of conflicts. Citizen participation can thus contribute to dealing with the conflicts inherent in the transformation, but it will not usually resolve them. Last but not least, citizen participation remains a democratic imperative, as citizens should be able to shape far-reaching decisions.

Publication

Escher, Tobias; Holec, Katharina; Mark, Laura (2024): Akzeptanz für Transformationsprojekte durch Bürgerbeteiligung? Ein Plädoyer für mehr Realismus. Hg. v. Stiftung Mitarbeit. Bonn (eNewsletter Netzwerk Bürgerbeteiligung, 02/2024). Online verfügbar hier.

Results of our research in Hamburg-Ottensen (freiRaum Ottensen): Final presentation

In a joint meeting with representatives of the district office Altona in Hamburg on 7 December 2023, the research group presented the results of the data collection in connection with the freiRaum Ottensen project. FreiRaum Ottensen was one of the five projects in which surveys and interviews were conducted. The focus was on the public consultations in which the general public was able to participate. More information on the project freiRaum Ottensen and the participation formats carried out can be found here.

Selected results

  • The population in Ottensen largely perceives a need for improvement in transport and is relatively positive about the transport transition overall.
  • Around 50% of the population have heard about the participation process for freiRaum Ottensen, and around 16% have taken part. In comparison with other processes, these are relatively high figures, although the usual over-representation of people with high school diploma, men and older people can be seen despite a wide varieties of participation formats offered to different target groups.
  • The discussion during the different participation formats was perceived as constructive and respectful, although conflicts and gaps in the representation of all interests were acknowledged.
  • In this project, the policy process was comparatively open to citizens and participants were able to shape the content of the planning outcome.
  • For around a third of the population and half of the participants, the participation process had an influence on their satisfaction with the district authority. However, this influence was not always positive: for example, one in four participants was more satisfied with the district authority at the end, but just as many reported less satisfaction.
  • Two thirds of the population rated the adopted measures as positive.
  • (Statements on the population generally refer to the subgroup of people with a high school diploma – see detailed information on the representativeness of the surveys)

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The detailed presentation is available in German.

AI for the evaluation of participation? The potential of language models to recognise modes of transport in participation contributions

In this article in the journal Internationales Verkehrswesen, Laura Mark, Julia Romberg and Tobias Escher present a language model that can be used to reliably recognise modes of transport in participation contributions. They show that supervised machine learning can usefully support the evaluation of participation contributions in mobility-related online participation processes.

Summary

Consultations are an important part of transport planning and can help to integrate knowledge from the public into the planning process. However, online formats in particular often result in large volumes of contributions, the thorough evaluation of which is resource-intensive. It is hoped that the use of AI will support this.

The language model presented in this article is based on the concept of supervised machine learning for text classification. Pre-trained models are re-fined using smaller data sets. In this way, a model can be adapted to a specific area of application, such as mobility-related consultation processes.

A pre-trained German-language version of the high-performance RoBERTa language model was used as a starting point. Using a categorisation scheme that mainly distinguishes between the modes of transport mentioned, 1,700 contributions from seven transport planning consultation processes were manually coded. The resulting data was used partly as training data for fine-tuning the language model and partly for evaluation.

Results

  • Overall, it was shown that language models already available today are suitable for supporting the evaluation of consultation processes in practice. The language model developed here for recognising the modes of transport can serve as the basis for a specific application in municipal planning practice.
  • The post-trained RoBERTa language model is very effective at assigning the appropriate modes of transport. The model presented by us can always reliably assign well over 90% of the entries correctly to the modes of transport they contain.
  • For the processes on whose contributions the model had been trained, an average of 97% of the categories could be correctly assigned (on a separate test set). For contributions from other transport-related participation procedures, the appropriate modes of transport could still be assigned very reliably with an accuracy of 91 to 94%.
  • The performance of the model therefore hardly deteriorates when it is applied to previously unknown data from mobility-related participation procedures. This means that manual coding in advance can be omitted, at least for similarly structured participation procedures, which significantly reduces the effort involved.

Publication

Mark, Laura; Romberg, Julia; Escher, Tobias (2024): KI zur Auswertung von Beteiligung. In: Internationales Verkehrswesen 76 (1), S. 12–16. DOI: 10.24053/iv-2024-0003