Development Council:Participation from Civic Society

the Example of Strasbourg Eurometropole, France

Abstract

This article describes the role of development councils in an urban area of France. Development councils are tools of participatory democracy and appear to show the will of civil society. These bodies were established legally by the acts MAPTAM in January 27, 2014, and NOTRe in August 7, 2015. This article gives the background to and legal position of the development councils and describes the specific example of the Eurometropole in the urban area of Strasbourg. A good influence on local democracy is to be expected from development councils, with such benefits as the activation of public debate, greater citizen participation, the use of expertise in decision making, and the growth of social networks for urban development among local players.