The OP-OD method is particularly suitable for medium-sized planning tasks in structural engineering, urban planning, and open space planning. Although the method’s ambition is to be impartial, it is not value-neutral (at least from the point of view of its authors). It commits to respectful collaboration. The procedure and mechanisms of a method such as OP-OD require project initiators — usually the building owners or citizens’ assemblies [Baugruppen] — to be willing to view planning as a genuine collaborative process during which they have to take on more responsibility and, at the same time, relinquish sole decision-making authority. The OP-OD method is a well-structured tool and an aid to this end.

Equally important, the application of OP-OD requires the willingness of all participants to strive for an unprejudiced search for solutions. In this regard, it is by no means expected that each participant will be a ‘perfect person’ or even share particular views in terms of politics or philosophy of life. In fact, the method is expressly designed for each participant to contribute their (by its very nature) specific and individual views of the world and of the concrete task at hand. It is precisely for this reason that everyone is welcome in the first place. OP-OD takes the limitations of each participant as a starting point and serves to loosen them up by taking a wide-ranging viewpoint on the issues that need to be solved.