“ladder of participation,” a figure taken from a classic 1969 urban participation text written by Sherry Arnstein.44 This ladder- based figure of citizen participation moves from the lowly depths of manipulation and therapy to the more enlightened stages of “citizen power,” which includes partnership delegated power, and citizen control.
What could be some other possible models for participation, considering the complexity and skills required for participation in smart cities? What are the parameters that will ensure the success of one model over the other?
Guattari, together with his electronic card, is participating in the sensor based city, but if he does not have access he can become idiotic through the same technologies that would ordinarily make him a smart and participating citizen. What Deleuze describes through Guattari is an example of an interrupted or broken program of participation, where the object- script that would facilitate participation can become a locus of control, differently articulated politics, or a machine society that unfolds in distinctly computational ways.
Are there any identifiable patterns in the scenarios of an interrupted program of participation. Can these elements be addressed and solved? Or these are inevitable?