Urban Designer Handbook

Name of the book

Name of the book

Marcela Torres Molano

- 2018 version -

BUDD University College of London

First Edition: January 2018

GRAPHIC DESIGN ADVISOR: Walter Morselli

Printed in London

...To the one soul that encourages everyone to believe in a better world

seeing

Urban Design

city

revolution politics

local

race

stakeholders philosophy

rights

north economy intersectionality

religion

war human national

world

theory

scale actors

class

There is not correct order to read this handbook. Everything could be important and everything could be relevant. just take the courage to explore it.

explore

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?”

Martin Luther King

You can do it !

You can do it !

You can do it !

You can do it !

You can do it !

You can do it !

You can do it !

You can do it !

You can do it !

You can do it !

You can do it !

You can do it !

You can do it !

You can do it !

From Marcela 2018 version to future Marcelas “Urban Designers”

When you decided to initiate this journey , you committed to improve your academic and professional life, but what you didn’t imagine was how much your personal growth would change during this learning process.

It is sad that Marcela from the past cannot read this letter. She would be proud of how more of a “hippie” you have become. Although she would be a little annoyed at how much of the things she didn’t like, now you enjoy.

The first thing I want to ask you, is to keep that crazy soul that dares to imagine a better world, not without reminding you to fight the “ego” of the architect and the “naive hope” of a young self.

The second thing, is to come back to this book every time you feel the journey is not worth it any more or so complicated you just want to quit.

If there is one thing you have learned is that everything seems more difficult than it certainly is. Going through those difficulties will give you the best lessons; the things that seem more complicated will probably become the ones you sincerely enjoy.

Yeah!  believe it or not, before this stage you did not want to read Foucault or dare to learn about Lefebvre’s social understandings of the world. Now the both of us know, you cannot imagine of a “world” without thinking of the Right to the city,  space being an exercise of power or even not loving the economical view of Harvey related to the urban.

WOW” It’s not too bad Marcela from the past cannot read this one. She would go crazy with that last paragraph.

Dear Marcela from the future, dear Urban designer, do not forget your priorities, your compromise with the environment and the social cause. Do not dare to stop looking for equity and fight for everyone’s rights. Dear Marcela you have realised how much of an intersectional character you are and how culturally framed you have been without even noticing; please do not give up on being the best version of yourself in your professional and real life.

Marcela from the middle of BUDD

ps. don’t feel ashamed to read this. You made a huge effort to write it.

“What strikes me is the fact that in our society, art has become something which is only related to objects, and not to individuals, or to life”

Foucault

Please don’t forget TO Context

Being critical

No Big Bang

Think Intersectionality

Team building Inclusion

Context

Have as much as possible understanding of the whole context.

Include politics, economy, culture, nature conditions and environment, gender relations, religion, spatial dynamics, existent legal mechanisms, and power dynamics within the whole population that could be affected by the process

Intersectionality

Take into consideration Intersectionality as a fundamental element for the whole process. Aiming to generate a “good city for everyone”, challenging gender assumptions and questioning power dynamics are part of your possibilities.

Your opinion is not the only thats matters. You need a trans-discipline team with always more than one point of view.

Team building

It’s ok to be critical in every stage and with yourself. You do not need to be a pessimist, but think there is always something that can be improved Look for it and work on it.

Being critical

There is not Big Bang start in design. Start from existing, investigate, look for archives and other sources of knowledge.

No Big Bang

Everyone should be fully included in every stage of the participatory process. Forget about tokenism. Understand the actors involved, the needs of the locals and the help you can get from partners.

Inclusion

“A revolution that does not produce a new space has not realised its full potential”

Lefebvre

Let’s try to...

Think OUT of the box Go

Not because everything has been established in the “system” means it is good or appropriate. What about imagining a world without land property or abusive power dynamics.

beyond style

Do not forget about the importance of good design, technical knowledge or aesthetic matters, but do not confuse that with the priority of the process. Beauty is not equal to good.

Go further

Thinking of the strategy to be applicable, scalable or implemented in future scenarios. Comparative urbanism is not as crazy as it sounds

Avoid enemies

Try to find deals with authorities. They are better allies than enemies. Recognise they have the power to change realities.

“In the city and through the city segregation and alienation of individuals is maintained and generalised by gender, class, race, or age characteristics”

Lefebvre

ON THE TUBE TO A BETTER WORLD

Some steps you may need to use. please feel free to add as much as your experience has given you

Navigate through the existent information-archive and try to have a complete understanding of the context (use a guide-translator if necessary)

Consider Comparative Urbanism method as a tool. This has to be done based on research and existent theory. Consider mapping to organise information. The spatialisation of problems and opportunities will allow you to have a clear understanding of the whole picture.

Make sure to have a sufficient understanding of women and men’s perception and experience of their reality. (WEB of institutionalisation)

Evaluate particularities and generalities of the case

Set short term and long term goals, time frames and the stakeholders- actors involved

Define priorities

Define what are are the legal mechanisms in favour. For instance, existent policies or institutions

Establish what’s the common understanding of community and participation?

Establish what participatory approaches and stages to develop

Think of alternatives for monitoring during and post-intervention

Elaborate a documentation stage and theory building/production of knowledge during and after the processes

Think of generating further transformations based on the learning of the process.

“The centre of theory production need to move to the global South; there must be a recalibration of the geographies of authoritative knowledge”

Roy

I BET YOU DIDN’T KNOW...

SOME INFORMATIO N THAT MIGHT HELP IN THE FUTURE Lefebvre

[The right to the city] can only be formulated as a transformed and renewed right to urban life.’

‘The right to the city cannot be conceived of as a simple visiting right or as a return to traditional cities.’

Global south: “Unmapped space integrated in a scheme of dominant forms of knowledge of the ‘other ” Roy

Informality is not an exception but the “prevalent urbanisation mode” “863 million of people, approximately one out of three people live in informal settlements or slums” UN Habitat, 2013.

Peter Marcuse

Critical Planning, and outlined an approach in three steps: Expose, Propose and Politicize.

Expose: “in the sense of analyzing the roots of the problem and making clear and communicating that analysis to those that need it and can use it.”

Propose: “in the sense of working with those affected to come up with actual proposals, programs, targets, strategies, to achieve the desired results.”

Politicize: “in the sense of clarifying the political action implications of what was exposed and proposed, and supporting organizing around the proposals by informing action.”

Invited Spaces

•

Invented Spaces

Arnstein (1969)

MANIPULATION

THERAPY

CITIZEN CONTROL

DELEGATED POWER

PARTNERSHIP

PLACATION

CONSULTATION

INFORMING

Non- participation

Tokenism

Citzen power

Memory: “Strategies for activation”

1- Fostering empathy – forced migration

2- Acknowledging multiple memories – divided societies

3-Building trust – war torn locations

* BU2 Presentation

Intersectionality

“individuals belonging to different “social frames” as race, cultural background, or gender, in addition to having specific physical characteristics, mental or physical disabilities, or mobility limitations”. Crenshaw

“Intersectionality as a complex component in Urban Centres”

“Space is a social product. It is not simply ‘there’ a neutral container waiting to be filled but is a dynamic humanly constructed means of control, and hence of domination of power”

Lefebvre

Mommy would say...

Theory ensures not ignoring fundamental elements Process is fundametal

Order & homogenisation are not the only answer

Everything is not about the outcome

YOU ARE A DESIGNER, NOT GOD!

It is too easy to be naive

Avoid assumptions

Design should be looking for justice and equity.

Giving up is not an option

“... during The twentieth century the city came to be viewed as an inevitable construct of humans, which guarantees their survival at the cost of their gradual loss of authenticity”.

Abraham Akkerman

Let’s check

use this tool to improve your process of design. please feel free to modify and improve depending on your learning process or the needs of the project

NEPAL COLOMBIA / LEBANON

PROJECT NAME:

Category: Team:

Number of members:

Team leaders:

Division of work:

Volunteers:

Knowledge area s covered:

Date:

Scale:

Local Regional City National International

Actors: Who and how?

Government Civil Society Partners Local partners Community

Budget

Resources Distribution

Existent initiatives

participatory:

rela ted:

Context review:

Politics Culture Risk

Economy Religion Spatial dynamics

Re sources Environment History Intersectional reality

Gender Class Sexuality Ethnic Able/disable Other opportunity to challenge assumptions

h ow? Identify:

L oud voices

Not- loud voices

Le aders + -

Level of participation - Refer to Ladder

Existent Ideal Achieved Research (types)

Theory sources: Learning

Objetives

Government Civil Society Partners

Local partners

Community

Ours:

Priorities (After diagnosis)

Possible outcome

Expectations More real

Monitoring review team:

Monitoring review initial/ what is missing?

Monitoring review middle/ whats is missing?

Monitoring review Final/ whats is missing?

General Feedback

Team

Partners

Community

Institutional

O ptional

One main achievement

One main problem

Three points to improve

Outcomes & major contributions