Citizens of Ankara: Re-Assemble!

This innovative Citizens' Assembly fosters trust and engagement among citizens and local stakeholders, building a more resilient and cohesive social and political landscape across the City of Ankara.

POLITICAL POLARISATION AND SOCIAL FRAGMENTATION

For over two decades, Turkey's capital Ankara has endured the rule of a Mayor known for anti-democratic behaviour, influenced heavily by an authoritarian state. This transformed Ankara from a once exemplary city for urban development and democratic ideals into a polarised and socially fragmented metropolis of around 7 million residents. In 2019, a new Mayor supported the "Citizens of Ankara: Re-Assemble!" project, proposing a lasting Citizens' Assembly as its core. 

BUILDING INTERACTIONS AND TRUST

The Citizens' Assembly is built on trust, rooted in a thorough analysis of urban social and spatial structures, using a straightforward yet powerful facilitate-then-build method. Objectives include persuading city stakeholders to join this innovative Citizens' Assembly with a metropolitan-scaled structure, shaping vital local policies, gaining approval from the elected local parliament, and uniting a resilient citizenry. Supported by alternative media and strategic public relations, the initiative snowballed, generating content, forming assembly working groups, and fostering extensive interactions, encounters, and trust among stakeholders. 

FOSTERING SOLIDARITY AND COHESION

Over four years, 2,000 institutional stakeholders and 5,000 citizens collaborated to establish this Assembly, which has crafted over 100 policies covering urban identity, sustainable development, social cohesion, local development, transportation, planning, and vulnerable groups. These policies, approved by the Municipal Council, have started to be implemented. It has become the most well-known participatory experiment in Turkey, against all odds, in an extremely polarising political context. Acknowledged with two international awards, the project proved instrumental in fostering solidarity and cohesion among Ankara's citizens during the pandemic and recent earthquake.