Change by Design: Cape Town I South Africa I 2015

Change by Design is a series of international workshops, exploring participatory design as a tool for advocacy and socio-spatial transformation in marginalised urban areas, in collaboration with grassroots organizations, local NGOs and governmental agencies involved in slum upgrading and housing rights.

We focused on Cape Town, South Africa in the inner city district of Woodstock, where housing rights and gentrification have become a hugely pertinent issue.

Through a period of intensive fieldwork utilising participatory design tools, we generated strategies which addressed the issue of marginalised groups being priced out of the city centre; a phenomenon which can be seen in urban areas across the globe.  The methodology centered on the low-income rental market, assessing tenure and affordability in order to develop an understanding of the range of experiences of citizens and ultimately how they could benefit from  regeneration processes.

We worked closely with our local partner, Development Action Group, who brought their unique experience in citizen mobilisation, capacity building, research and advocacy to unpack the opportunities for meaningful change.

For more information about the workshop process, you can read the project blog here.

Read the report from the workshop here: Change by Design: Reimagining regeneration through participatory design in Cape Town

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