Abstract
Participatory urbanism is on the rise in communities struggling to develop quality public spaces in constrained environments. In light of the growing practice of community-based strategies to shape urban place-making, this paper argues for an increased role of community engagement in urban place-understanding. It presents the work of feminist environmental artists of the 1970s as a precedent for participatory approaches towards infrastructure awareness and environmental stewardship, and discusses opportunities for expanding the impact of their approach through digital media integration. Lastly, the paper concludes with a contemporary case-study as an engaged model for improving urban systems function. The case study presented represents a collaboration between the authors and the City of San Jose to engage pilot communities with a greater understanding of the connections between household practices of waste water management and urban sustainability. Keywords: participatory urbanism, community engagement, environmental art, urban infrastructure, social media, urban sustainability.
Highlights
Resumo O urbanismo participativo é considerado cada vez mais importante para aplicação em comunidades que lutam para melhorar a qualidade do espaço público em contextos com restrições
Within the conversation on Participatory Urbanism that has continued since the exhibition, a common murmur of critique can be heard of the exhibition and of many of the design interventions represented within it: While claiming the use of participatory methodologies and design for the common good, the predominant players in these actions are still professional designers
As a final example of participatory urbanism that integrates with social media and addresses complex urban systems, the authors have served as consultants to the City of San Jose, California since the fall of 2013, collaborating on an effort to engage community members with a greater understanding of their urban infrastructure and encourage greater environmental stewardship
Summary
These women’s work existed prior to digital networks and social media, tools which are deemed essential to a contemporary approach to participatory design. While the tools may be farther and faster reaching than those utilized by Hanson and Ukeles, the need for community participation, multi-scalar thinking, and metadesign in participatory urbanism remains It will require the integration of Ukeles’ and Hanson’s approaches with digital networking tools to achieve a truly engaged practice of urban place-understanding. Open-source software tools were used to coordinate rapid relief services; (iii) Occupy Sandy leveraged the Occupy Wall Street infrastructure to emerge within days of the storm; (iv) Occupy Sandy leveraged existing community infrastructure to address needs, establish trust relationships, and build local capacity; and (v) Transparent practices increased trust among Occupy Sandy members and the general public (Ambinder and Jennings, 2013). Environmental designers striving for participatory processes must engage in these technologies to remain relevant in the contemporary digital age, an age which Castells argues will be organized completely around electronic media
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
