Empowering Community Participation in Urban Redevelopment Through Habermas’ Communicative Action Theory

Abstract

Urban redevelopment is a well-established practice aimed at addressing community needs while fostering economic growth. However, limited access to information and weak cooperation often hinder meaningful community participation. Although numerous studies have examined community involvement in urban development, few focus specifically on redevelopment contexts, where displacement and long-term socioeconomic implications intensify the need for genuine community participation. This paper addresses this gap by developing a conceptual framework to empower community participation in urban redevelopment, serving as a guideline for local agencies and stakeholders. Decision-making in urban redevelopment frequently overlooks community input, despite its direct impact on residents’ lives. Grounded in Habermas’ Theory of Communicative Action, the proposed framework emphasises creating communicative spaces for planners to actively listen to community voices, build trust, and facilitate consensus among diverse stakeholders. Through an Integrative Literature Review (ILR) as a method, a conceptual framework was developed by synthesising previous studies and integrating theoretical perspectives. The framework contributes to theoretical discourse by integrating Habermas’ communicative principles into urban redevelopment, offering policy-oriented insights for planners and local authorities to promote more inclusive, transparent, and equitable decision-making processes. Future research may empirically validate this framework within specific redevelopment contexts.