The potential benefits of citizen science for spatial planning
An exploratory analysis of 22 Belgian and Dutch cases
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21601655 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Tom Goosse (0000-0002-1773-8357, University of Groningen, corresponding author), Christian Lamker (0000-0002-1541-6952, University of Groningen), Tim Devos (0000-0001-9632-7611, Ghent University) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 33 |
| Issue | 10 |
| Pages | 1864-1882 |
| Publication date | 2025-10-03 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | European Planning Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0965-4313 • E-ISSN: 1469-5944 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/09654313.2025.2530754 |
| OpenAlex | W4412766885 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 35 |
Citizen science is gaining attention for its innovative potential for research, policy-making, and address spatial aspects of sustainability transitions. However, spatial planners struggle to harness this potential beyond the extension of participatory processes. Approaches seek to recognize citizens views alongside governmental expertize in communicative processes, while citizen science is rarely conceptualized through lenses of co-production and self-organization. This paper explores the potential benefits of citizen science for spatial planning along emerging and potential interfaces. Drawing on a literature review focussed on spatial planning and citizen science, we examine existing typologies and analyse 22 citizen science cases from Flanders (Belgium) and the Netherlands that engage with spatial issues. The study identifies four types of interfaces between citizen science and spatial planning practices, highlighting diverse ways in which citizen science can inform or support participatory planning processes. It opens the potential for various societal actors to engage with a citizen science project, form collaborations and develop new role distributions within spatial planning
Citizen science · Data science · Environmental planning · Exploratory analysis · Geography · Political science · Regional science · Spatial planning · Computer Science · Geographic Information Systems Studies · Land Use and Ecosystem Services · Species Distribution and Climate Change
Citizen Science
Citizen Science and Volunteered Geographic Information
Information in Communicative Planning
From Conservation to Crowdsourcing
Distinguishing ‘planning’ from the ‘plan’. Institutional and professional implications of taking urban complexity seriously
The Valuable Plurality of the Citizen Sciences
States of Knowledge
Citizen science’s transformative impact on science, citizen empowerment and socio-political processes
From niche to mainstream
Academia and society in collaborative knowledge production towards urban sustainability
Reframing strategic spatial planning by using a coproduction perspective
Ontological diversity in urban self-organization
Co-evolutions of planning and design
Planning of undefined becoming
Planning as the ideology of (neoliberal) space
Rethinking the sustainable development goals
Can democracy solve the sustainability crisis? Green politics, grassroots participation and the failure of the sustainability paradigm
Collaborative Planning in Perspective
"Citizen Science"? Rethinking Science and Public Participation
Self-organization in urban development
Orchestrating experimentation in non-state environmental commitments
Public Participation in Scientific Research
Scaled, citizen-led, and public qualitative research
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |