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...
A funny thing happened on the way to the forum.
During a recent trip, my enquiry into departure times for the shuttle bus connecting sites of Pompeii, Italy, was met with a bark of, “Check...
Why are we obsessed with success and fearful of failure? Often, it’s the unexpected trials and tribulations that provide the most valuable learning opportunities. Lior Steinberg is a rarity: with so many irons in...
It’s a fact! Cities are designed by men for men. This skews power relations in the built environment and the systems that govern them, curtailing women’s social and economic mobility. Added to this, intersectional...
Non-profits in Denver have redefined the city’s understanding of chronic homelessness. Now their Collaboratory model is empowering people with lived experiences to design systemic change.
Change-making can be a funny business. A lot of the...
Borrowing may not seem an obvious action for cutting our carbon footprint, but Sharing Libraries are emerging as a popular arm of the circular economy.
Like most of the world, Iceland’s population stayed indoors during...
In response to the collective demands of 100,000 people, Via Verde has transformed Mexico City’s two-story highway from symbol of bad decision-making to a green space that supports citizens’ wellbeing.
The greater metro area of...
When we as citizens feel helpless to interject in the questionable actions of decision-makers, the cracks in democracy are laid clear. But what if there was a way to put power back in the...
Big cities can learn a lot from smaller communities. Dunleer, a town in the northeast of the Republic of Ireland, has managed what many larger places have struggled to do: excite people about retrofitting....
One city in Germany takes a unique approach to civic participation.
With declining rates of local democratic engagement around the world, Keil has teamed up with local creatives to try something radical: take their town...
In ageing societies like Europe, young people have little of the political power needed to influence decisions that impact their lives. As a group for whom sustainability is a prominent concern, futureproofing cities relies...
Green areas are great; they have the potential to attract a city’s residents to enjoy nature, relax, and get some much-needed fresh air. Safety, though, is a large element of that enjoyment; so how...
Elected officials make decisions that affect millions of people, but beyond voting every few years, what say do citizens really have?
Maybe democracy needs a tune-up.
Citizens’ Assemblies – a sort of lottery promising better representation...
How do you go about relocating an entire city?
The community of Swedish city Kiruna has grown up around the biggest local employer - a mine. But as the pit threatens the town above it,...
Life goes on after the sun goes down, so why should our cities stop?
With more cities around the world creating night offices and appointing night mayors – we take a look at the potential...
This article was written for CityChangers.org by Dr. Michael Shank, Director of Engagement with the Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance. In it, he argues that it’s high time that creatives be brought in as a...
Karolina Taczalska was appalled by the density of traffic outside her son’s school, so she and Mateusz Cyganek started a project that aims to make the street child friendly by implementing small but effective...
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...