Epistemological and ethical dilemmas of public participation on residential tourism planning

There exists a wide consensus among governance theorists about the need of broadening the level of active engagement of the public in the processes of local planning and decision making. However, the praxis of public participation still arise many doubts and uncertainties that have not been solved by the academia yet. This paper examines the problems and difficulties faced during the design and implementation of a public participation process on the alternatives and future of several local development projects of residential tourism in two municipalities in the South-East of Spain. The objective of this paper is to show the main epistemological and ethical dilemmas (legitimacy, representation and utility) challenged during this project, as well as some of the answers given to these questions.