CATEGORY

Architecture & Design

Targeted Participation: A Toolkit for Involving Disengaged Groups

From targeted participation to making it fun, the Urban Minded project shows what strategies and activities really work to involve people usually excluded from engagement processes. “One of the pitfalls of citizen participation is that...

Urban Minded: Designing Cities that Support Mental Wellbeing

Poor city design correlates with poor mental health. Urban Minded sought to involve young women, among those worst affected, in determining how planning can support wellbeing. Even a small space can produce a lot of...

What Images Reveal About the Stories of Cities We Rarely Hear About

This article was written for CityChangers.org by Gosia Grzesikowska, an urban designer and architect at Gehl, and the founder of Urban Photo Atlas, a professional reference archive documenting everyday urban life across cities worldwide....

CityChanger Deborah Saunt: Decent City-making with Social Value

Co-founder of DSDHA, Deborah Saunt, explains how social value optimises the investment in public spaces, and why redevelopment projects are improved by random conversations. When Deborah Saunt was asked to design a landmark building for...

Dialogue & Redesign: How Business is Booming Again on Leyton’s High Streets

It took just months to spruce up High Road Leyton, once again filling what was a declining town centre with businesses, people, and pride. London’s atmosphere was electric. In the run-up to the 2012 summer...

CityChanger Siobhan Burger: How to Lead Social Design for a Better Future

The cities we build today will still be standing for generations to come, so we need to anticipate how these will form the physical and social infrastructures people need in the future. Siobhan Burger...

d-Lab: Reviving Social Infrastructure via Architectural Design

Preserving historic architecture seems at odds with renovating buildings to meet modern sustainability standards. One Spanish university, however, is bridging these two worlds – by reviving traditional construction methods. It just so happens that...

Does Indigenous Architecture Hold the Secrets to Sustainable Construction?

Diversifying cultural representation in architecture extends a sense of belonging to communities that have long been hidden. Reanna McKay tells us how Indigenous urban design and place markers are rolling back centuries of exclusion...

Young Leader Luisina Perassi: Enabler of Child-Inclusive Urban Design

Understanding children’s experiences of cities exposes new opportunities for inclusive design. The trick is knowing how to properly engage them. Gold Coast transport planner Luisina Perassi has made it easy – even collating a...

Architecture4kids: Urban Design Skills in Early Years Teaches Valuable Lessons in Sustainability

Engaging children in urban design and planning activities can increase interest in these professions in later years. It also provides perspectives infrequently considered in architecture, which are fundamental to building inclusive, sustainable cities. The municipal...

The CityChangers Podcast #12: The Gendered City

After centuries in charge, men have made a mess of our cities! Gender bias is present in almost every element of urban planning and design, from mobility networks right down to the way we build...

Creating Safer Cities: Considerations for Gendered & Nighttime Design

If the design of urban spaces does not make us feel safe, it limits how we move around, engage with, and enjoy the city. This impacts women disproportionately, and even spaces that seem welcoming...

Young Leader Omar Zahran: Architecture as a Tool for People-Centred Cities

How does so much historic architecture endure the ravages of time? It’s because the architects of yore knew how to build cities to suit their environment, and they did so to meet the needs...

CityChanger Carlo Ratti: Designing Natural-Artificial Cities

Technology and greenery will be more synergetic in cities of the future. Leading the charge for melding nature and the artificial is Professor Carlo Ratti, who is pushing the frontiers of innovation in urban...

Africa’s Unconventional Architect: Rajae Haissouss

Architects become famous for their inventive structures and controversial designs. But for Rajae Haissouss, satisfaction comes from adding value to the community. Aspiring to use her talents for good, this Young Leader is raising...

Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay: Sustainable Building Meets Greenery

Gardens by the Bay: an award-winning green haven in the middle of Singapore. With its iconic architecture, innovative use of technologies, environmental sustainability, and horticultural displays, Singapore has established itself as one of our...

Architectural Design and Climate Mitigation & Adaptation

“It’s not just about water, not just about heat. It’s about humans and nature and how our cities function holistically and work together.” - Jeremy Anterola With cities becoming more populated and the growing demand...

From Architecture to Urban Planning: Shweta Gandhi

From a naïve 19-year-old architecture student to working on government projects and helping achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, Shweta Gandhi has already gathered a multitude of experiences. We spoke to this Young Leader...