How do cities balance people’s needs, environmental sustainability, and corporate interests?
What part do various stakeholders play when designing public spaces?
How can we design around people’s habits and behaviors?
The way I’ve been exploring my essential question is a bit different from what I expected. I didn’t realize how much I would be thinking about larger ideas like how do people interact with each other and what builds a community. I expected to be more focused on more specific points, like if people liked to stop by a park after work. Identifying stakeholders in the project has been hard as well, but I believe it’s something that I’ll learn more about after attending a couple meetings next week hosted by the city about the future of Jersey City, as well as my interviews. So far I’ve learned a lot about my essential questions through the books I’ve been reading. One of the most important things that I’ve learned is that environmental sustainability doesn’t have to be a sacrifice, and that it can really go hand in hand with designing for the user.
Kate, the notion that achieving a social/environmental goal does not have to be viewed as a sacrifice (i.e., that there is something less or lost), but as a potential net gain for ourselves as individuals and the larger commons. This may depend on design strategies that specifically target an optimistic view of the world and of the possibilities for change. Maybe you are already doing this, but if not, I’d encourage you to take a walk each day with the goal of observing how folks use and navigate the existing public spaces around you. Take pictures of things that suggest problems to address and things that might serve as an inspiration. Look not only at our built world, but also the natural world that is sometimes hidden in our urban ecosystems.