Unleashing collective imagination through controversies: lessons from a smart city project

Julieta Matos-Castaño, Corelia Baibarac-Duignan, Michiel de Lange, Anouk Geenen, Mascha van der Voort

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

We explore the role of futures-oriented design interventions in leveraging socio-technical controversies to foster collective imagination. We elaborate on a practical application of a speculative and scenario-based design tool called Future Frictions. Our study focuses on the use of Future Frictions to engage citizens in the development of an assessment framework for implementing sensors in Amsterdam. By employing the "controversing" framework to operationalize controversies through design, we explore how Future Frictions provides an interface that bridges speculative and real-life urban contexts. This interface facilitates recontextualizing controversies in daily life, fostering sensemaking, and making space for collective agency. This, we argue, nurtures collective imagination to generate counter-narratives that open alternative smart city futures. In addition to contributing to responsible smart city developments, we offer inspiration for utilizing design to reimagine and deploy creative forms of engagement to inform decision-making and policy-making addressing societal challenges in different domains.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of DRS
PublisherDesign Research Society
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 23 Jun 2024

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