Issue 16

Participatory Urbanism

This time of protests and a pandemic presents great strain for our cities — and great opportunity for long-needed change. Through in-depth conversations and place-specific portraits, local, national, and international figures explore the promise and problematics of “participatory urbanism” and public space, asking who participates — and how — in constructing urban places. We know that place is comprised of more than just the physical environment: social fabrics, ecological processes, political and economic agendas all have their (often competing) roles to play. In what ways do artists, architects, urban planners, and community activists produce and reproduce a place? How are burdens of emotional labor, collective responsibility, and commitment to justice borne differently by different actors? What, ultimately, does civic participation mean in the current urban condition?

A Durational Interim

by Douglas Burnham