All rights reservedHongisto, PatriziaFerm, Tiina2024-04-022024-04-022010978-80-01-05782-7https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14235/1504Book of proceedings: Annual AESOP Congress, 2010 Space is Luxury, Aalto, July 7-10thCitizen participation in the development of urban space is oriented towards citizens‟ choice of proposed solutions. Often, this is a regulated process which happens at a stage when relevant issues may already be overlooked. However, technology for virtual meetings now offers new opportunities for early and innovative citizen participation. This paper presents how spatial planning software and virtual decision-making tools are changing and innovating governance processes. Participation in the vast archipelago surrounding the City of Turku, Finland, aims at more inclusive consultation. The area participates in several European ICT projects focusing on user and demand driven research, development and innovation. Elected citizens and civil servants can make use of virtually conducted preparation meetings at earlier stages in the planning processes. We conclude that though planning may not commonly prepare and present issues virtually, rural areas are an example that there is readiness for this for reasons of distributed governance.EnglishopenAccesscitizen participationgovernance, e-democracyvirtual consultationurban planningvirtual meetingsopen innovationconferenceObject532-545