Designing Cities for All

Designing Cities For All is a two-year research and presentation programme and is made up of various components. The programme is a combination of desk research, interviews and practical research on the one hand (supported by a total of six Fellows who will each work on the programme for three months) combined with the associated activities of dossier development; and on the other hand various forms of transfer and exchange of practical experiences and generated knowledge.

When doing research on designing cities for all, a first step is to define what exactly we are talking about. That's why in January 2021, we kicked off with a series of three livecasts with speakers who introduce you to the concepts we are touching upon during these two years, including the terminology that we encounter. Let's break it down for you!

For architect Lyongo Juliana (Amsterdam), architecture is not just about making locations more beautiful and in balance; it is about creating people’s experience. In recent years, he has investigated the degree of diversity and inclusiveness of architecture in Amsterdam. Starting January 2021, Lyongo continued his research through Pakhuis de Zwijger’s two-year programme Designing Cities for All.

In earlier episodes of Designing Cities for All, we have seen that design is everywhere and everything around us is designed. We have also seen that there are flaws in these designs, because what we tend to do in this world is design for the middle and forget about the margins. Wouldn’t we create and build stronger structures for everyone if we would design for the people who are actually living with the failures of our designed products, spaces, and systems?

Indy Johar and Joost Beunderman are part of the team of Dark Matter Labs, a multidisciplinary design studio developing new working methods for system change. They are focused on the great transitions our societies need to respond to the technological revolution and climate breakdown we face. In Pakhuis de Zwijger’s two-year programme and starting April 2021, Indy and Joost discovered, designed, and developed the institutional ‘dark matter’ that supports a more democratic, distributed, and sustainable future, in which everyone – regardless of ability, ethnicity, gender, age, and cultural background – can participate with equal opportunities.

In this DCFA series, we see everyone as a (re)designer and host a dialogue with an interdisciplinary group of artists, researchers, activists, educators, and students to uncover equitable approaches to designing cities for all. How can we untangle different forms of exclusion rooted in design and (re)design a more equitable world, grounded in values of inclusion, trust, liberation, and healing?

We are happy to welcome Galit Ariel as our next Fellow (September – December 2021)! In her DCFA Fellowship, Galit explores the impact of tech-infused urban environments on agency, representation, and self-expression, evoking new ways to hack the city (for good).

To end and celebrate the first year of Designing Cities for All, we published 18 Perspectives on Designing Cities for All, an essay book in which all the authors are committed to creating cities of belonging, where everybody feels and is allowed to feel at home. These essays will help you understand how design is part of the problem, but also holds the key to the solution.

Imagine living in a city that looks after its inhabitants, takes care of its surroundings and enables people to care for themselves and others. What does such a city look like, how does it feel? In this series, we’re rethinking the city from a feminist and care perspective. Caring cities place people, health, safety, and collective wellbeing at the heart of decision making, emphasising the value of paid and unpaid care work for all.

We are happy to welcome OneWorld as our first Fellow of 2022! In their DCFA Fellowship, editor-in-chief Seada Nourhussen and publisher John Olivieira take us with them on their mission to (re)design journalism. Together, we explore current power structures in the field and the concept of ‘journalism for justice’.

Overused terms like participation, engagement, co-creation, involvement, and inclusion, to name a few, have always been a matter of concern in designing cities. However, what does intentional participatory design mean? And why should we practice it? In this series, we aim to rethink the city for and by everyone by discussing who the designer is, what barriers and challenges are to shift from the user to co-designer, and how to make a true impact.

We are happy to welcome Daphina Misiedjan as our next Fellow! In her DCFA Fellowship, Daphina, who is an expert on environmental justice and human rights, takes us on her mission to (re)think the way people and the environment are related. Together, we’ll explore how different social and environmental circumstances can create inequalities on a local, regional and international level.

When talking about designing future cities for all, we also need to take a close look at how the designers of the future are currently being educated. They will be partly responsible for what cities will look like in the future and who will live and belong in these cities. How is (design) education organised at the moment and is there enough awareness in the curriculum for exclusion by design and attention given to designing for inclusion? DCFA discusses these topics and more during this Designing Cities for All education series.

To design for all, it is essential to involve all stories and perspectives in the design process. Just like design, colonisation touches our daily lives. Decolonisation of design starts with breathing life into the multitude of stories in our society that have been erased and pushed to the margins of society – experiences of Indigenous People, LGBTQI+ perspectives, stories of enslaved people, just to name a few. In this series, we will explore the history of erasure, the manifestations of colonisation in the present, ultimately reimagining a just and decolonised society for all.

We are happy to welcome de Chrononauten as our last Fellows of 2022! In their DCFA Fellowship, de Chrononauten – a small collective consisting of futurists Edwin Gardner and Christiaan Fruneaux – (re)think the shape of trust and democracy in the digital age. Together, we explore the implications of a new (online and electronic) era on three levels: the public domain, public culture and public governance.

In Designing Cities For All, in addition to triptychs and fellowships, we made a series of specials: one-time programmes rather than three parts. In these specials, we took a close look at education for all, our sense of belonging and inclusive public spaces.

In 2021 and 2022, Pakhuis de Zwijger’s research and activity programme Designing Cities for All (DCFA) has invited hundreds of inspiring designers, creatives, academics, policy makers and other experts to the table to discuss how we can create cities of belonging – where everyone feels at home. We’ve learned so much and zoomed in on so many dimensions of exclusion by design — architecture, climate, (digital) democracy, equity, technology, care, journalism, participatory and co-design, environmental justice, decolonisation, public spaces for all…

So you’re interested in what to read to become a better designer, architect, urban planner, urbanist, or neighbour living and working in a super-diverse city? Here are a few recommendations from our DCFA team, and we will add some periodically. For all you city designers who want to empower yourself (and others): let these reads guide your practice of transforming cities for the better. And guess what? You can order these books with a pretty neat discount* via our favourite bookstore Athenaeum!