In recent years, a surge in experiments with deliberative governance in land use planning in the Netherlands and around the world has occured. In this form of governing, government interacts with businesses, non-governmental organizations and citizens to collaboratively solve problems. These more horizontal forms of decision making are tested, for example, in public entrepreneurial networks, scenario development, or communities of practice. Deliberative governance promises more credible decisions through an improvement of the quality of interactions between interdependent actors.
The study of boundary work in three cases of deliberative governance in land use planning, two in the Netherlands and one in the United States, demonstrates that credible democratic deliberative governance is limited: many participants resist to giving up their formal powerful positions, nor do they share experiences, exchange knowledge, or engage in collaborative inquiries. Deliberative governance and innovative solutions occur only in experiments that stage reflective conversations. To be more than an “innovation business”, participants have to be encouraged — by the setting and by the incentives from rules and regulations — to transcend boundaries around frozen discourse and practice. Moreover, a deliberative design and facilitators that are able to redirect conflict into reflective conversations are of great value. They enable critique and empathy in conversations and consensus in outcomes. These are vital ingredients to create credible, innovative and democratic decisions.