The call for a fair, safe and healthy living environment for everyone.

In 2021, Pakhuis de Zwijger’s extensive two-year program Designing Cities for All commenced with the support of the Creative Industry Fund NL. This program focuses on the role of designers in shaping and creating cities for, by and with everyone. The key question for the 2021-2022 activity program is:

In the context of the super-diverse city, how can designers contribute to the creation of inclusive cities for, by and with everyone?

Sign up for our newsletter

Inhoudsopgave
About 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.

Creatief
Creatief
Research & activity programme
The bilingual (Dutch and English) activity programme Designing Cities for All aims to offer insights into and provide tools for the inclusive (re)design of the city in all facets for future and current designers who are active in the fields of architecture, graphic and visual communications, industrial design, spatial design, product design, digital design, game design and much more.
Breaking it Down

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!

Creatief
Creatief
Watch back the Breaking it Down:
Our DCFA advocates explain the impact of design, take a deep dive into cities, and talk about what it means to design for all.
More about: Cities
Today in The Netherlands, Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague have officially achieved the status of ‘super-diverse city’. In these cities in particular, awareness is growing that radical changes are necessary in order to achieve a fair, safe and healthy living environment for everyone. Key issues here are affordability, accessibility and equal opportunities. These issues revolve around (digital) products, (public) services, employment, education and healthcare, the housing market, as well as shaping the neighbourhood, village, and city in a more general sense.
More about: For All
Focusing on involving users in the actual design process and understanding and meeting the needs and wants of people is crucial. In order to arrive at systems and living environments that everyone - regardless of age, cultural background, ethnicity, capacities, religion, and gender (identity) - can relate to in a fair and equal manner, it is desirable to gain more awareness, knowledge, and expertise with inclusive design of public spaces, products, and processes. What we need is to move towards a more intersectional feminist vision for designing and shaping our daily realities.
DCFA Advocates
The Designing Cities for All activities are organised together with designers, scientists, experts, educational institutes, and other parties. On top of that, we invited six Fellows to dive into the matter of (re)designing inclusive cities. Here is an overview of experts that have been involved in the DCFA research and activities.
DCFA Fellow #1: Lyongo Juliana

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.

Inclusief
Inclusief
Watch back our Fellowship:
The introduction of our first DCFA Fellow Lyongo Juliana. This event started with the first public screening of the short documentary 'Op zoek naar inclusie in de architectuur' (Dutch), by Lyongo Juliana and Pim Gelevert. The rest of the event will continue in English.
More about DCFA Fellow Lyongo
Lyongo Juliana fell in love with architecture when he was an Architectural Engineering student at the TU Eindhoven. Now, he is the director of OZ Caribbean. During his Architect in Residency period at ARCAM Architecture Centre Amsterdam, he investigated the degree of diversity and inclusiveness of architecture in Amsterdam. The outcome of his research: we need to pay more attention to the end user, regardless of ethnicity.
Watch back the IdenCity:
In the IdenCity livecast series, Lyongo takes us along in his research on identity, architecture and design. How can architecture and design facilitate your identity and, the other way around – how can your identity shape the architecture of your surroundings?
More About IdenCity
Let these books and articles suggested by Lyongo guide your practice of transforming cities for the better.
Design from Inclusion

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?

Rechtvaardig
Rechtvaardig
Watch back the Design from Inclusion:
Watch our DCFA advocates explaining how to design for all when it comes to designing Products & Services (3 May), designing Spaces (10 May), and designing Systems (17 May).
More about: Designing from Inclusion
Not being able to read small type on a screen as you age, soap dispensers that don’t respond to black skin, health trackers that don’t include the female cycles... What goes for products and services, the same goes for places and systems. Inclusion happens by design, or not at all.
DCFA Fellow #2: Dark Matter Labs

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.

Klimaatbestendig
Klimaatbestendig
Watch back our Fellowship:
See the introduction of our second DCFA Fellow Dark Matters Labs. For this event, Indy and Joost invited Liz Corbin of Metabolic Institute to join them in the studio.
Watch back the Transitioning Together:
In the Transitioning Together livecast series, Dark Matter labs takes us along in their research on climate justice, democracy, and applying design thinking. How can we design legitimate and equitable pathways towards a climate-resilient and thriving future?
More about: Transitioning Together
The reality of the climate crisis and how it impacts our cities is fundamentally a question of social justice and democracy. A transition towards a climate just future has to be deeply inclusive – that is the big challenge for our democracies. As the risk of a destructive 3+ degrees temperature rise keeps growing, transitioning together is about the institutional infrastructures that enable systemic change: after all, climate change is not an isolated crisis, but a symptom of a system deeply out of balance. How can we design legitimate and equitable pathways towards a climate-resilient and thriving future?
Equity x Design

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?

Inclusief
Inclusief
Equity X Design
Our DCFA advocates uncover how we can design for a more equitable world, grounded in values of inclusion, trust, liberation and healing, Redesigning the Mindset (27 Sept), Tools and Opportunities (4 Oct) and Intentional Intersectionality (11 Oct).
More about Equity X Design:
From buildings and products to policies, systems, and spaces – everything around us was once designed. In past DCFA episodes, we zoomed in on the challenges we are facing of individual, institutional, and systemic inequity, and highlighted that inclusion happens by design, or not at all. We have also seen that the dominant narrative of design and design thinking is often rooted in systems of oppression and exclusion. In this series, we look at the world through an intersectional lens and explore different design tools, practices and communities which facilitate an equitable mindset.
DCFA Fellow #3: Galit Ariel

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).

Slim
Slim
Watch back our Fellowship:
See the introduction of our third DCFA Fellow Galit Ariel. For this event, Galit the Civic AI Lab and the Racism and Technology Center to join in the studio.
Watch back the Hacking the City:
In the Hacking the City livecast series, Galit Ariel takes us along in her research on digital agency, representation, and self-expression.
More about: Hacking the City
Inequality and exclusion are also affected by how we define our digital world. This particular series is curated by techno futurist Galit Ariel, who wants to evoke new ways to hack the city (for good). Want to read more? Here are some articles to satisfy your appetite.
DCFA advocates
The Designing Cities for All activities are organised together with designers, scientists, experts, educational institutes, and other parties. Next is an overview of experts that have been involved in the research and activities. For ongoing thoughts about systems change & strategic experimentation, it's worth following them on their social media!
One Year of Designing Cities for All

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.

Inclusief
Inclusief
Creating Cultures of Care

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.

Zorgzaam
Zorgzaam
Watch back the Creating Cultures of Care:
Watch our DCFA advocates explaining the concept of caring cities (31 Jan), how to redesign the mental health care system (7 Feb), and improving rituals of self-care in our daily lives (21 Feb).
More about: Creating Cultures of Care
With designers, researchers, artists, policymakers and activists we uncovered how we can (re)design cities, systems, spaces and human relationships to enable a culture of care grounded in values of compassion, empathy and equity for all. You can read more about these topics in the following articles.
DCFA Fellow #4: OneWorld

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’.

Rechtvaardig
Rechtvaardig
Watch back our Fellowship:
See the introduction of our fourth DCFA Fellow OneWorld. For this event, Seada Nourhussen, the editor-in-chief of OneWorld, and John Olivieira, publisher of OneWorld, invited Studio Colorado to join them in the studio.
More about OneWorld
OneWorld is a magazine that focuses on journalism for justice. They are outspoken about injustice and inequality and bring awareness to topics such as human rights, identity, and sustainability. In their Fellowship, Seada and John take us on their mission to (re)design journalism. Together, we we explore current power structures in the field and the concept of ‘journalism for justice’.
Watch back the Redesigning Journalism:
In the Redesigning Journalism series, Seada Nourhussen and John Olivieira focus on design flaws in journalism and explore solutions and practical changes to redesign it. Why is an ongoing conversation on the use of language and its exclusionary practice necessary? And how can you introduce such information in the best possible way?
More about: Redesigning Journalism
In the light of designing for all, language is one of the practices by which current power relations are established and sustained. As a society, we still use ableist, colonial, transphobic, homophobic, and gender-inequal language in our daily speech and writing. If you want to read more on these topics, here are some articles to enjoy!
Together We Design

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.

Inclusief
Inclusief
Watch back the Together We Design:
Watch our DCFA advocates explaining the concept of co-design and who the designer is (4 April), the conflicts and power dynamics within co-design (25 April), and how to make tangible impact with co-design (2 May).
More about Together We Design:
Together with designers, researchers, practitioners, and policymakers we uncovered different components of participatory design within spaces, products, policies and systems.
DCFA Fellow #5: Daphina Misiedjan

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.

Rechtvaardig
Rechtvaardig
Watch back our Fellowship:
See the introduction of our fifth DCFA Fellow Daphina Misiedjan. For the launch of this fifth Fellowship, Daphina has invited two inspirational guests, with whom she’ll discuss the importance of environmental justice and the power of the law: Nawal Mustafa and Rosalba Icaza.
More about Daphina Misiedjan
Dr. Daphina Misiedjan is an assistant-professor in human rights and the environment at International Institute of Social Studies (ISS), The Hague and 2020/2021 Fellow at The Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIAS). In addition, she is an expert within the UN Harmony with Nature program. She specialises in issues concerning human rights and environmental justice, specifically concerning Environmental Justice within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Rights of Nature and Environmental Justice form local city and neighborhood perspectives.
Watch back the Realising Environmental Justice:
Environmental Justice historically focused mostly the fair distribution of benefits and costs regarding environmental exploitation. Marginalised communities receive mostly the cost in the form of pollution while they contributed the least to environmental degradation. In the context of the Netherlands, environmental justice still requires elaboration and deepening. In these series, Daphina looks at the growing problem of air pollution and health disparities from the perspective of environmental justice.
More about: Realising Environmental Justice
With designers, researchers, artists, policymakers and activists we uncovered how we can (re)design cities, systems, spaces and human relationships to enable environmental justice for all. If you want to read more on these topics, here are some articles to enjoy!
DCFA advocates
The Designing Cities for All activities are organised together with designers, scientists, experts, educational institutes, and other parties. Next is an overview of experts that have been involved in the research and activities. For ongoing thoughts about systems change & strategic experimentation, it's worth following them on their social media!
Designing Education For All

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.

Inclusief
Inclusief
Watch the Education For All livecasts:
Watch our DCFA advocates including teachers, researchers and students explaining the challenges we are facing of individual, institutional, and systemic inequity, and highlighting that inclusion happens by design, or not at all.
DCFA Advocates
The Designing Cities for All activities are organised together with designers, scientists, experts, educational institutes, and other parties. Here is an overview of experts that have been involved in the research and activities. For ongoing thoughts about education for all, it's worth following them on their social media!