Gunes for an sts approach to the question see
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3780/is_/ai_n9146372/
-----Original Message-----
From: gunes tavmen <[log in to unmask]>
To: tavmen, gunes <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: 13/04/2009 5:36:42 PM
Subject: Re: a democratic design process (?)
First of all thanks a lot to everyone for your quick and helpfull replies.
The point is, in that case I take public transportation as a case study, so
what I had focused was the concept of 'democracy and design' or 'politics
and design'. Maybe I should be giving more details on that particular case;
these vapurettes they 'renewed' are in a way symbol of Istanbul and are very
strong cultural representations. Unlike any other transportation means
available here, there are some special social habits attached to those like
feeding seagulls, drinking tea on the terrace etc. So it seems or at least
seemed to me, the question here is a bit different than a general
transportation planning.
As a person who has studied 'science and technology studies - STS', I was
expecting to find a debate on the problem of determining the 'experts' when
society is involved in a design process. In STS, the question of 'who should
be and/or are involved and to what extent' is a very big question, and I was
kind of trying to apply that into design. Terry, I would appreciate if you
could provide those references you have mentioned although I believe none of
those techniques are applied in my city.
Best,
Güneş
2009/4/13 Terence Love <[log in to unmask]>
> Dear Gunes,
>
> There is a large literature on this topic since the second world war (and
> before).
>
> You could begin with a simple search on Google such as "community
> participation transport planning". The first 500 or so web pages should
> give you a start!
>
> You might also find it conceptually useful and good fun to read Illich's
> work on transport conviviality and his book Energy and Equity.
>
> Also be aware that there a significant amount of work ( mainly form the
> 1980s and now hard to get hold of) seriously criticizing the participation
> and collaboration techniques used by planners and designers. Many of these
> techniques are in use currently and uncritically regarded as unproblematic
> by current planners and designers who are unaware of the deep criticisms of
> them and the failure of the techniques in terms of equity, ethics and
> succesful outcomes. If you want, I can provide some references.
>
> Good luck,
>
> Terry
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: PhD-Design - This list is for discussion of PhD studies and related
> research in Design [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of gunes
> tavmen
> Sent: Monday, 13 April 2009 4:19 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: a democratic design process (?)
>
> Dear List-followers,
> I am currently working on a question of 'whether the proess of public
> transportation design can be AND/OR should be democratic and
> participative?'. It is quite difficult to find references about the 'design
> and politics' issue whereas there is a long debate on the 'politics of
> artefacts' from the technological point of view. There are many works on
> politics of technology and the debate of participants, decision-makers and
> the recipients, however I haven't found the same depth in terms of design.
>
> My investigation started with the municipality intervention on the sea
> transportation in Istanbul that is a vital component of daily life of many
> people. With the purpose of 'renewal' of a very characteristic
> transportation means of Istanbul (they are even considered to be 'cultural
> heritage'), the municipality had planned a drastic change to which some
> civil groups opposed quite strongly. So as an answer to the resistance, the
> municipality carried out a sort of online questionare with several design
> options which was a very lame one in many ways. I don't want to get into
> details here and rather keep it simple; consequently I ended up asking, is
> there any way to pursue such an operation that effects public so intensely,
> in a participative way? Or should the process be participative and
> democratic anyway? Who are the actors, to what extent and by which way
> should they be involved?
>
> In my opinion, the question of 'design and democracy' applies to public
> transportation quite well since it primarily effects society very closely.
> So if you know any references to suggest, I would be very glad...
>
> Thanks in advance and best wishes,
> Gunes Tavmen
> PhD Student, ITU
>
>
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