This thesis examines the understanding of participation in public space by analyzing the emergence of two distinct conceptions of what constitutes citizen participation. The first is articulated within the framework of the Swedish policy Politik för Gestaltad Livsmiljö (Politics for the Designed Living Environment), while the second is grounded in participatory practices at Vintervikens Trädgård.The study demonstrates how this specific policy and practice have diverged in the wake ofthe neoliberal turn in urban planning that emerged in the 1990s. It further shows how differing conceptions of participation in public space are closely linked to broader understandings of democracy and autonomy. By shifting the analytical focus from how participation should be organized to what participation may constitute, this thesis contributes to a deeper understanding of the challenges of citizen participation. The findings suggest that, rather than focusing on how professionals can orchestrate participation, policy should prioritize enabling conditions for autonomous forms of participation in shared public spaces.