ICTs to support design of public spaces that facilitate social interaction, diversity and inclusion in urban areas
Suggested elective course(s) to follow in the context of this research: Intra-urban spatial patterns, Participatory planning 1 and 2
This thesis topic wants to explore how the design of public spaces can facilitate social interaction, and how ICTs can be used to inform this design. The goal is for these public spaces to be designed in a way that increases diversity, inclusion and togetherness in neighbourhoods.
Public spaces are essential urban infrastructures. The term refers to spaces that are communally shared, traditionally managed by local government, and that support social, communitarian and civic functions. It includes infrastructures as diverse as empty plots, streets, squares, urban parks and gardens, playgrounds, sidewalks. Public spaces are places where urban life unfolds, where a place's culture and identity are present. Due to the fact these spaces are communally shared and open, they can serve as spaces where different communities and groups interact in relatively impartial areas. In this sense, public spaces can be used to support social cohesion, inclusivity, diversity and greater awareness of the "other" in our cities. However, it is also known that in the planning and design of public spaces it is difficult to invite and accommodate opinions and suggestions from the rich socio-economic and cultural diversity that characterizes our cities.
The assumption that we would like to explore with this topic is that ICTs can provide a useful tool to support a wider diversity of socio-economic and cultural backgrounds to feel represented in the design of a public space, to facilitate the development of (virtual) spaces where these opinions can be collected, debated, harmonized, and that the outcomes of these public debates about a public spaces design can be useful for planners and urban authorities to use in the design process.
A literature review of existing cases where public spaces have been redesigned to support greater inclusiveness, social interaction, social cohesion or diversity. These best practices should be translated into specific input to use for discussion with local communities interested in participating in a design proposal for their neighbourhood. Criteria, dimensions, indicators to facilitate the assessment/ discussion of these alternatives can also be inferred.
Focus-group discussions, walking interviews, surveys, participatory design workshops, or any other methodology by which one can elicit the opinions, generate the debate and gather the input from participants to inform a design proposal.
Optional: you can also choose to visualise or produce a render of different scenarios derived from the input of these design proposals. A potential follow-up could also include discussion with planners to identify what aspect of the scenarios are possible to include and which ones are less likely to be implemented in a real-life project.