Urban Design Workshops: A System Model of Engagement for Sustainable Community Development

Abstract

Cities present challenges arising from the dynamics of growth for people and the places they inhabit. A system model of engagement for urban design workshops proposes functions, processes, and roles for local stakeholders interacting with planning experts. Three mechanisms are outlined for effective workshops: stakeholders contribute inputs and experiences in defining the problem space; balancing attention allocation promotes the generation of a range of options; and resulting choices prioritize solutions as desired outcomes. An experiment is outlined to test the proposed model and applicability to sustainable land use at a site selected for the potential of transit-oriented development. The research addresses cities’ future growth and resilience, leveraging local and lived experience with professional and technical expertise.

Keywords: Urban design workshops, transit-oriented development, sustainable development, stakeholder engagement, teamwork mechanisms, urban planning, urban science, transdisciplinary engineering