Amplifying Quiet voices

Challenges and opportunities for participatory design at an urban scale

Journal article (2018)

Authors

Daniel Gooch Open University
Matthew Barker Open University
Lorraine Hudson Open University
Ryan Kelly Open University
Gerd Kortuem Open University, Internet of Things - IDE
Janet Van Der Linden Open University
M. Petre Open University
Rebecca Brown Community Action: MK
Anna Klis-Davies Community Action: MK
More Authors More Authors External organisation
Research Group
Internet of Things (IDE) (TU Delft)
Copyright: © 2018 Daniel Gooch, Matthew Barker, Lorraine Hudson, Ryan Kelly, G.W. Kortuem, Janet Van Der Linden, Marian Petre, Rebecca Brown, Anna Klis-Davies, Hannah Forbes, Jessica Mackinnon, Robbie Macpherson, Clare Walton
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3139398
Participatory design Citizen innovation Digital civics Smart cities
More Info
expand_more

Published Date

2018

Language

English

Reuse Rights

Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download, forward or distribute the text or part of it, without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license such as Creative Commons.

Faculty

Industrial Design Engineering

Department

Sustainable Design Engineering

Research Group

Internet of Things

Abstract

Many Smart City projects are beginning to consider the role of citizens. However, current methods for engaging urban populations in participatory design (PD) activities are somewhat limited. In this article, we describe an approach taken to empower socially disadvantaged citizens, using a variety of both social and technological tools, in a Smart City project. Through analysing the nature of citizens' concerns and proposed solutions, we explore the benefits of our approach, arguing that engaging citizens can uncover hyper-local concerns that provide a foundation for finding solutions to address citizen concerns. By reflecting on our approach, we identify four key challenges to utilising PD at an urban scale; balancing scale with the personal, who has control of the process, who is participating and integrating citizen-led work with local authorities. By addressing these challenges, we will be able to truly engage citizens as collaborators in co-designing their city.