The subject of this thesis concerns the participation of residents/citizens/users in the design process of both private and public areas, also known as participatory design. A method that has been discussed mostly in the '60s, '70s, '80s it has reappeared today in an attempt to create better living conditions and more meaningful relationships amongst people. With this in mind, the following questions arise: how can human relations still be amicable and close in an urban landscape, how can that space be sufficient enough for everyone, how can nature invade the city, and how can an urban space acquire new housing areas without demolishing old ones, without constructing additional ones, and without removing current residents.

If we assume that students themselves design their new school, then they are the ones that will make important decisions for the new space they are going to “inhabit”. To what extent will the actual user approach this new space with greater intimacy and caution, when he has contributed to its creation? It raises the question of how different a space can turn out to be when the opinion of several users of the public area, with different backgrounds, is taken into account.

For this reason, this thesis took an encyclopaedic approach with a range of projects, ideas and actions, functioning in its entirety as a polyphonic structure around participation, much like Mikhail Bakhtin did in Problems of Dostoevsky’s Poetics (1929). He believes that we see each other based on how others see us. Essentially, the people who surround us are a reflection of ourselves. In a similar manner, different narratives from actions, projects or ideas that approach the residents' participation in the design process can lead to a better understanding of what participation and participatory design is, what it used to mean, and what it means today. The subject contains a wide variety of examples that are categorized based on the object designed, the subject concerned, the type of participation, and the spatial and temporal dimension. The information is listed in the form of entries, followed by sub-entries referring to related terminology, as well as diagrams to easily compare and draw conclusions.