Recent discussions and empirical studies on civic engagement suggest that participatory planning efforts have to be differentiated at the local level. This paper conforms to the argument of the local context of decision for engaging and focuses on a multi-scale framework relating macro policy decisions and official practices to individual dilemmas. The emphasis is on three elements of the local context: the legacy of informality policies, ambiguities resulting from local government's planning practices, and citizens' perception of the local situation. The paper aims to show that, in an informal settlement, these local factors create a dilemma for the residents and make them reluctant to engage.

The discussion in the paper is based on our research in the neighborhood Okmeydanı, in Istanbul. Our observations with quantitative and qualitative techniques showed that low levels of engagement with a redevelopment project in an informal settlement could be attributed, among other factors, to citizens' dilemma. The residents find themselves in a perplexing situation. They perceive the project as a chance to achieve improvement in their quality of life but, at the same time, as a threat to their existence due to the risks of gentrification and inequity.

最近有关公民参与的讨论和实证研究表明，参与式计划的工作必须在地方一级加以区分。本文符合参与决策的当地背景的论点，并着重于将宏观政策决策和官方实践与个人困境联系起来的多尺度框架。重点是当地背景的三个要素：非正式政策的遗留，地方政府的规划做法造成的歧义以及公民对当地情况的看法。本文旨在表明，在非正式解决方案中，这些本地因素给居民带来了困境，并使他们不愿参与。

本文中的讨论基于我们在伊斯坦布尔Okmeydanı附近的研究。我们对定量和定性技术的观察表明，在非正式住区中参与重建项目的水平低可能归因于公民的困境。居民发现自己处于混乱状态。他们认为该项目是改善生活质量的机会，但同时由于高级化和不平等的风险，也威胁到其生存。