Sortition returns to Cologne
How do we want to move around our neighbourhood? What makes us feel comfortable? These were the questions that Cologne's first Citizens' Assembly was addressing from March to May 2025. Following the planning cells on an urban development issue held back in 1979, the Citizens‘ Assembly was the second mini-public in Cologne on a local topic.
The Citizens' Assembly was attended by 55 randomly selected Cologne residents. With the help of experts, they developed a city-wide concept in a moderated process as to what the streets and squares in neighbourhoods with predominantly residential use in Cologne could look like in the future.
7,000 invitations
To recruit members for the Citizens' Assembly, the city wrote to 7,000 people from a randomly selected sample of the population register. 1,395 invitees (19.9 per cent) applied to take part.
As there are always certain groups that are difficult to reach via written invitations and are usually not sufficiently heard in public debates, nine members of the mini-public were invited via multipliers. Here there was close cooperation with the social space coordination in Cologne as well as the Cologne Volunteer Agency as the urban social part of the co-operative office for public participation.
These organisations addressed people who often come from socially or economically disadvantaged backgrounds and who have lost confidence in democratic and political processes or do not feel that they are addressed by them. These include, for example, people who have experienced poverty, have a low income, limited access to education, a migration background or a disability. Social institutions and organisations were reached via the multipliers, who in turn had direct contact with the silent groups and were able to invite people personally to the Citizens' Assembly.
‘An important step towards more citizen participation’
Those invited by letter or via the multipliers provided information on age, gender, education, place of residence, migration background, form of private household and transport behaviour via an online form or by post using a feedback form. Based on this information, 60 people were selected for the Citizens' Assembly by means of a stratified sampling in such a way that, according to the information provided, they are a reflection of Cologne's population. However, five of those invited from these applications did not turn up. All Citizens' Assembly members receive an expense allowance of 400 euros for their commitment.
‘I am proud that so many Cologne residents want to take part in the city's first Citizens' Assembly. This is an important step towards more citizen participation in Cologne. It allows the people of Cologne to contribute their ideas directly to the political decision-making process,’ said Lord Mayor Henriette Reker at the start of the assembly.
Recommendations on mobility
The Citizens' Assembly held five meetings from 28 March to 11 May 2025 to draw up recommendations on the topic of “Mobility in a liveable neighbourhood”. These include measures with which Cologne's neighbourhoods can be made sustainable and liveable in the future. The concept should show which criteria are used to prioritise suitable areas in Cologne and how the people of Cologne can be involved in their implementation.
The members of the Citizens' Assembly were accompanied and supported by experts from the administration and an external consultancy. Experts from science, planning and civil society provided them with the necessary background knowledge.
Participants' tasks
The aim of the mini-public was to develop recommendations for the city-wide concept for sustainable street design in Cologne's neighbourhoods. To this end, the participants have
- developed goals for the design of street spaces
- proposed concrete measures to realise these goals
- developed criteria for prioritising suitable spaces and
- developed ideas for public participation in the implementation
Citizens' proposals for city council
Members of the Citizens' Assembly present the results of their deliberations to the City Council's Transport Committee on 24 June 2025. By the beginning of 2026 at the latest, a concept for the sustainable and liveable design of the city's neighbourhoods is to be developed on the basis of the citizens' recommendations.
The Citizens' Assembly was organised by the city's Office for Public Participation. The organisers were the participation service provider ifok and the Zukunftsrat Köln (Cologne Future Council) association. The Institute for Democracy and Participation Research at the University of Wuppertal provided scientific support for the mini-public. Experts from the institute were present at all meetings. They recorded the process and interviewed members of the Citizens' Assembly to evaluate the quality and impact of the process in a final report.
Planning cells 1979
With the Citizens' Assembly, Cologne returns to democracy by sortition after 46 years. As early as 1979, 250 randomly selected Cologne residents took part in planning cells to make suggestions for the design of the area around the historic town hall and the Gürzenich event venue, which dates back to the Middle Ages.
A 124-page citizens' report documented the recommendations drawn up by the participants. The differences between the architects‘ and the citizens’ proposals for land use were striking.
Flats instead of offices
While the architects had only suggested a proportion of 19.4 per cent for residential use, the planning cell members had recommended a proportion of 48.7 per cent. The citizens only wanted to give administrative use a share of 6.2 per cent, whereas the architects wanted 35.5 per cent.
In the end, the city council's urban development committee voted in favour of the mini-public's proposal.
‘Planning turned on its head’
‘Outside observers said that the previous planning had been ‘turned upside down’ by the citizens‘ report,’ wrote planning cell inventor Prof Peter C. Dienel in his book ‘Bürger planen das Rathausviertel’ (Citizens plan the town hall district) about the participation process in Cologne. As head of the Citizen Participation and Planning Processes Research Centre at the University of Wuppertal, Prof. Dienel was the driving force behind the Cologne participation process. The practical implementation of the Cologne procedure was in the hands of the research centre.
What has the administration learnt from the participation process? ‘The experiment of using the planning cell procedure under metropolitan conditions in Cologne has been positive overall,’ said Dr Rüdiger Göb, the city councillor at the time, summarising the experience gained. An experience report by the City of Cologne on the preparation of the citizens' report recommended the continued use of the planning cell procedure. Nevertheless, the return of sortition to Cologne was 46 years in the making.