YOUR CITY LAB is a platform that situates local communities at the forefront of the production of urban space. It enables residents to assert their ideas on how to transform their neighborhood initially by using specific design tools (i.e. Green Areas, Urban Furniture, Lighting Equipment). It focuses on identified areas of Athens with diverse space qualities, which the user can edit through a recommended toolkit. During this process one will encounter and identify various planning questions and will be guided through a decision-making procedure. At the end of each proposal, the user will be informed on his/hers own design and will view it in comparison with other archived designs.The final output will be an open source data collection of the proposals and their quantitative analysis that can be used freely from all the interested parties. AFH Athens will act as the main moderator of this initiative through public discussions and participatory workshops with local inhabitants and interested authorities aiming to influence the planning procedure.
YCL will engage the user in participatory methods; it is a platform constructed as an “intermediary of crossing, a threshold” which allows its users to practice and expand their emancipating autonomy (Stavrides, 2014), designing their city at the “nexus of physical public space and digital public space” (Cooper, 2016). It is a continuously evolving shared process which promotes the construction of networks among the diverse users.
YCL overall process aims to examine the notion of knowledge production on issues regarding the city as well as the importance of citizens’ participation in the decision-making process by decomposing the dipole expert - non expert.
A dialogue is promoted between experts (policy makers) and non experts (citizens). This is identified as democratization and co-production of knowledge which leads to more just cities, discovering a new social consciousness in design and planning.
