Problem solving and city making - A design approach to cities and their difficult social problems (Summary of the recorded speech)
SPEAKER: Ezio Manzini (Politecnico di Milano and DESIS Network)
Photos by Francois Jegou; SDS
In modern cities, chronic social problems such as deepening inequality, aging, the spread of chronic diseases, difficulties in immigrant integration, and, more generally, threats to social cohesion are intertwined. These problems can be defined as 'chronic' problems because there is no solution when the commonly used conceptual framework is applied. On the other hand, by changing the way we look at these problems, we can find solutions within new systems (new social, cultural, economic and technological systems). To do this, you must have both practical sense and creativity, which in fact corresponds to design capabilities (and that applies to whoever does the design).
Not many people recognise the importance of design to solving social issues in cities. Nor do they recognise the distinct association between city and place. However, within the broad scope of urban planning, the interaction of people with places and infrastructure is all considered as part of the city. In the past, when one thought of a city, one looked at it from a top-down perspective. This means looking at the whole city and its planning on a larger scale. It is important to look at the big picture, but it is also necessary to look at it from the perspective of people actually living in cities. Many social issues are only perceived by the people who live there. When many people in the city talk about safety issues, it means that there are actually dangers in the city. More and more crimes are taking place around the world, and safety concerns are increasing. Therefore, all cities around the world are concerned about safety, and when people feel that their city is not safe, they feel that they are not protected and feel insecure. Although irrelevant to the actual statistics, people are more likely to feel this anxiety if they don't interact enough with family and neighbors. We need to understand people's thoughts at this point.
In order to understand the role of design in social problems, it is necessary to think about the design process. A design looks different depending on the capabilities of the person who designed it. When we can look critically at something that exists in reality, it stimulates our imagination and creativity and enables us to achieve something. In fact, we all do this in our daily lives. Ironically, these processes do not occur if society feels comfortable and secure. It's because they can't find a reason to improve, so they try to settle for things the way they used to be.
Many people recognize and emphasize the importance of design. So, what is the role of design professionals? As the demand for design increases, design professionals must be able to assist in the design process. The demand for design is increasing in policy and other social-related fields as well. Policy and management are the government's own responsibility, but design experts must be able to provide sufficient help.
To nurture design experts who can be active in various fields with diverse competencies, trust in designers must be supported. People believe that designers can help solve problems, and students who have learned design need to be open to experimenting without waiting for someone to actually need them. In a rapidly changing society, various projects are emerging, and the conditions for design to actually work are created. It can be a project that occurs within the perimeter of each individual's life, it can be a corporate-level project, or it can be a project related to a city. Designers need to be able to see it both macroscopically and microscopically.
Cities are environments in which complex social problems are particularly dense and intertwined, but applying a collaborative approach can turn such densities into opportunities. Collaborative solutions are likely to be developed and sustained in an environment where several different methodologies come together and all city actors (citizens, associations, businesses, institutions) acknowledge and recognize collaborative social behavior. In order to establish such favorable conditions, a virtuous cycle must be established between business based on collaborative action and a form of governance that has the capacity to support it. A virtuous cycle is possible because the existence of collaborative projects creates conditions for implementing new forms of governance and, conversely, new forms of collaborative governance open up possibilities for the emergence and proliferation of even more collaborative projects. When such a virtuous cycle takes place, two results are achieved. Several specific problems are solved, and the entire city comes to life. A strategy that combines these bottom-up self-supporting collaborative projects with an appropriate governance approach can be seen as an effective strategy of city making.
Milan is a successful example of such a city-building strategy. Milan was once a city that had lost its vitality, but has been able to re-energize itself in an attempt to make a difference. People are starting to recognize that positive change is taking place, which has led to the approach of building cities together with the power of citizens through various projects. Rather than directly creating something, the government helped individuals form networks, and changed the city with the ideas of citizens and their capabilities and will. You can't always lead and intervene in a top-down fashion. Because risk is everywhere, failure is sometimes a possibility. Even if there is confusion, and there are no rules, and we do not move in an orderly manner, we must be able to tolerate it. Conflict isn't all bad, so try to reconcile with it.
Source : http://www.seouldesign.or.kr/board/32/post/101590/detail?menuId=29&boardCateId=4
We are currently facing a crisis in residential housing areas. Previously, houses were for multi-person families, but now single-person households are increasing. As a result, not only is the physical space changing, but also the psychology of people. Loneliness increases and the services that people need change. In Italy, rental housing was provided at a low price to people who did not have the money to buy a house, but we changed the concept of social housing and reimagined it as a space that creates social life and interaction. Housing has now become a space where people can gather, live, interact, and create a community, and it is starting to be recognized as an open space toward the city like an apartment. Creating a community and designing a physical space together is a very important part of the design team’s work. This is because you can design a space that creates a community by using your own capabilities.
In order for this type of project to be permanently sustainable, it is necessary to create an environment for citizens to cooperate and exchange together, and to be able to focus on the detailed dimensions of the process for a virtuous cycle between problem solving and city building. Design establishes collaborative encounters between citizens and citizens, and between citizens and institutions, and becomes a driving force that makes them want to continue to participate with interest now, tomorrow and 10 years from now. That is the role of design that can contribute to solving social problems in today's cities.
