Participatory design

The following study aims to present an innovative approach for Design. Participatory Design is the model of direct involvement of different social groups in the design from functional tools to environments, social institutions and businesses. Diverse collection of practices has been developed to support this direct involvement by Participatory Design. People are invited to participate during different phases of an innovative and creative process; from initial exploration to problem definition and defining the problem and creating ideas for solutions. During development, they help evaluate proposed solutions. Participatory Design answers questions about users and their tasks and goals, then help users to make decisions. Participatory Design is characterized as a maturing area of research and as an evolving practice among designer. Architecture as a professional design are social constructs and the way for humans to consider the physical world in which they exist, and as social constructs, both reflect and shape the culture in which they arise. The authors go through the definitions of Participatory Design in order to achieve a new approache in design. various values which are inherent in the social fabrics are illustrated by emphasizing on cultural identity and activity. To illustrate the concept of this approach, landscape design of bazaar in mahallat as a case study is considered.This research will attempt to identify and analyze the local participation, and goes some way to providing practical solutions to tackle the local problems, utilizing an effective application of the principles of sustainable development on both environmental and architectural aspects.

This study investigates the potential of a novel therapeutic approach to improve informal settlements, which is a highly localized healing treatment to regenerate urban spaces. The purpose is to find out how urban acupuncture can be applied to accomplish the empowerment plans of informal settlements. The process-oriented approach of urban acupuncture creates an appropriate context for the possibility of the community participation in different stages of improving public spaces. However, the social conditions and characteristics of the residents of informal settlements create challenges and require the use of special methods in dealing with the issue of participation. The first part of the research is based on formulation of an urban acupuncture framework for improving informal settlements. The theoretical finding of this part is applied in the second part of this research, which focuses on the public spaces of an informal settlement, “Kooye Manbae Ab” in Ahvaz, a city in Iran. The results showed that urban acupuncture as a small-scale, bottom-up approach, provides motivations for residents of such neglected parts of the city. Nevertheless, a combination of different participatory techniques should be applied to encourage and motivate residents to be consciously involved in the process of upgrading their environment.