City bug report: urban prototyping as participatory process and practice

Abstract

This paper explores the wider contexts of digital policy, transparency, digitisation and how this changes city administration and the role of the (digital) publics, using City Bug Report as a design case. Employing a mix between design research and action research, the authors exemplify and analyse elements of both the design process, the organizational, the political and technological contexts. They point to the role of researchers and designers in exploring and understanding digital elements of public space as not merely registering structures but also actively engaging in public discourse, providing critique and alternatives as much as solutions. Further research and challenges are discussed.