1 Status Quo and the Rational for Method
More recently, with growing grassroot movements, under multiple names like, tactical urbanism, DIY urbanism and more, there is a willingness from local community stakeholders to participate more actively in city making. The dichotomy between bottom-up and top-down discourses informs initiatives to de-hierarchize the roles between the two poles of this binary, with the understanding that collaboration is necessary for a more conscious and harmonious design approach.
The prevalence of technology informs such civic engagement approaches, where the combination of both physical and digital mechanisms has the potential to be the catalyst for smart collaborations amongst stakeholders on both ends of the planning spectrum. The use of situated technologies and media architecture have creatively contributed to enhanced co-creative processes, to the extent that the technologies themselves hold agency in becoming architecture and communication tools.
The ‘why me?’ question is oftentimes a barrier to participation. Certain communities might feel unconcerned, unbothered or lacking in trust; others might not see themselves as valuable agencies for placemaking because of their non-expert perspectives; or simply they are not aware of the opportunities to voice opinions. Local inputs are only as diverse as the citizens who are engaged enough who decide to participate, and as widespread as the passers-by being at the right place at the right time.
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The prevalence of technology informs such civic engagement approaches, where the combination of both physical and digital mechanisms has the potential to be the catalyst for smart collaborations amongst stakeholders on both ends of the planning spectrum. The use of situated technologies and media architecture have creatively contributed to enhanced co-creative processes, to the extent that the technologies themselves hold agency in becoming architecture and communication tools.
The ‘why me?’ question is oftentimes a barrier to participation. Certain communities might feel unconcerned, unbothered or lacking in trust; others might not see themselves as valuable agencies for placemaking because of their non-expert perspectives; or simply they are not aware of the opportunities to voice opinions. Local inputs are only as diverse as the citizens who are engaged enough who decide to participate, and as widespread as the passers-by being at the right place at the right time.
