spaceshaper

In my Geospatial Analysis & Visualization class at UIC, we had a lengthy class discussion springing from an article we'd been assigned, The Utopianism of Children: An Empirical Study of Children's Neighborhood Design Preferences by Emily Talen and Mary Coffindaffer, published in the Journal of Planning Education and Research.The article speaks to the need to engage youth in the community planning and design process. In all spheres of the public decision making process, young people are very marginalized. This article makes the argument that young people bring new, perhaps more imaginative perspectives to ways to shape our public space. This was one of the more interesting discussions we've had in class and one that I've since thought a lot about.

One related initiative that I came across is a collaboration between CABE, beam, and the Bristol and Kent Architecture Centers called Spaceshaper, launched in Feb 2007. The web-based questionnaire, coupled with workshops by a trained facilitator, provides youth with the opportunity give their input on specific public planning projects. For some examples of previous workshops, see here.

Definitely a great concept, though there is obviously a wealth of potential that this tool leaves untapped. Will be interesting to see if the tool gets further developed towards a more interactive approach.