Fostering e-Participation at the Urban Level: Outcomes from a Large Field Experiment

e-participation software environments, more than other web applications, are “very early social machines” that need to “evolve through trial, use and refinement” with a twofold goal: learning from the field experience success and failure lessons and tuning the e-participation technologies. The paper presents the main outcomes of a large field experiment involving ten cities of the Lombardy region. . After presenting the project and sketching the main characteristics of the ten municipalities, the paper explores the outcomes emerged from these experiences drawing some lessons about what can foster e-participation at the urban level and reduce the impact of the hindrances that may hamper it.