Continuous learning processes in creating the public realm

Abstract

This paper presents a three-year long participatory action research (PAR) project conducted in collaboration with government officials, researchers, social workers and 400 street children in six Turkish metropolitan cities. By utilising the experiences of this project, it is argued that inclusive planning of public space requires a ‘process’ approach that can stimulate those involved to a more liberating state. The PAR methodologies can provide the means to conduct planning in a process of participation and change. Change emerges through successive phases of dialogue and joint action. This, in turn, creates a continuous learning process for those involved through conversation and experience. The project documented in this paper used the PAR methodology to induce change in dealing with street children in the context of their inclusiveness in public space. This paper addresses the social process of this PAR project, which facilitated learning for the involved participants. The paper gives an analysis of the process to illustrate how PAR created a continuous learning process.