Situated perspectives on the city: a reflection on scaling participation through design

This article explores the relationship between design methodologies and the scaling of participation in cities. The article recognizes that the scaling of community-led informal settlement upgrading is a central concern in the broader debate on scaling participation, and it interrogates the potential contribution of design methodologies in connecting localized, community-led upgrading initiatives outwards and upwards. We discuss these ideas by drawing on our own experience of devising and facilitating a number of participatory design and planning initiatives titled Change by Design with the non-profit organization Architecture Sans Frontières – UK (ASF-UK). Reflecting on this experience, we argue that the inclusion of a design-based, city-level perspective in localized upgrading initiatives can be a powerful conceptual and practical tool to support horizontal, vertical and deep scaling; and we highlight the importance of constructing this design tool in an embodied and situated manner, so that scaling processes remain firmly grounded in everyday lives and experiences.