contextual #dialogues on #community-based #participation for a #sustainable #urban_future

Publication: From Obser­va­tion to Parti­cipation: How Lis­ten­ing Reshaped My Approach to Pub­lic Space Design

By: Zeina Koteit

This reflective contribution explores how the Inclusive Cities Workshop, “Shaping Inclusive Cities: Dialogues on Participation and Placemaking,” in Weimar reshaped my approach to public space design. Using Sophienstiftsplatz as a case study, it examines how conversations with local residents and collaborative activities revealed perspectives that physical site analysis alone could not capture.

These insights informed tar­geted inter­ven­tions to bet­ter sup­port an inclu­sive pub­lic space. Work­ing in an inter­na­tional, inter­dis­ci­pli­nary group also encour­aged me to reflect on how par­tic­i­pa­tory approaches might be adapted to my own urban con­text in Alexan­dria, Egypt. Over­all, the expe­ri­ence high­lights the impor­tance of plac­ing people’s every­day real­i­ties at the heart of the design process.