From the social to the urban question: the pedagogical role of participatory arts practices in cities in transformation

Within social work, participatory arts practices have increasingly been put forward as a (new) pedagogical project that creates opportunities to deal with the challenges and complexities of living together in a changing and increasingly plural urban society. The aim of this article is to explore how and why participatory art was assigned this pedagogical role. First, we situate the current debate on participatory art in relation to urban living in its historical and socio-political context. Second, we uncover the claims concerning the role(s) of participatory art in an urban context by conducting a systematic literature review. Our inductive analysis of 35 relevant studies reveals that these practices are attributed overly optimistic, wide-ranging and at the same time mystifying ‘urban’ qualities, by which the connection with underlying social and/or political questions becomes obscured. In positioning participatory art critically in the face of current urban challenges, we underline the necessity to reaffirm the core social pedagogical project these practices were mandated for and to demystify the claims made on their behalf.