inclusive public spaces in diverse communities
The University Of Melbourne - Semester 2 2019.
Project Description
The corridor of open spaces along Lennox Street, Richmond are examples of ‘contested’ space, with very different people (refugees from different backgrounds, people of different ages and cultures and those with ‘challenging’ behaviours like drug addiction) using the limited spaces available. These issues are at the fore in mid-2018 as the trial of a Medically Supervised Injecting Centre (MSIC) will commence in July, will be within the corridor study area and will have repercussions for how people use the public realm in this area. We wish to partner with the students of Studio ‘D’ (a Masters of Urban Planning ‘capstone’ studio led by Dr. Andrea Cook) to capitalise on the timing of the MSIC to gather place-based data and generate some community-driven inclusive placemaking in this corridor. The studio leaders and four local partners (the City of Yarra, the Neighbourhood Justice Centre, the Yarra Drug & Health Forum and the Residents for Victoria Street Drug Solutions) have an established research and teaching relationship and we are hoping to build that relationship in Studio ‘D’. The students and partners will conduct social/spatial research in the case study area and make design and policy recommendations for how to improve the spaces as inclusive spaces.
Learning Methodology
This studio involves two three-hour learning sessions per week across 12 weeks and is open to students in the Master of Urban Planning. The studio partners with the City of Yarra, the Neighbourhood Justice Centre, the Yarra Drug and Health Forum and the Residents for Victoria Street Drug Solutions to explore questions of sociability of space, spatial and social justice, diversity, inclusion/exclusion, and displacement in this dynamic inner-city location.
Students will engage in social research with local community members in a supervised manner, to collect local knowledge and experience of public spaces and to reflect the community’s diverse aspirations around access and inclusivity. Students will work with agency and community partners, and with each other to find policy and design responses to the ‘wicked’ social conditions of the area manifesting in the public space.
The studio takes a place-based and applied the approach to social planning in diverse and contested locations and challenges students to produce innovative planning/policy outcomes to challenging questions of ‘who belongs’. It is expected that students enrolling in this studio will develop the following placemaking skills:
• Identifying, assessing and engaging with a range of socio-spatial issues and perspectives;
• Identifying and proposing creative solutions to complex social planning issues observed;
• Identifying and responding to ethical challenges related to social and spatial justice, both as both as related to the site and as relevant to social planning more
How does this studio match PlaceAgency Objectives?
This studio will engage planning studios in strategies to critically engage with challenging communities resulting in strategies that lead to inclusivity. It is asking us to find strategies to embrace others instead of displacing marginalised communities. It is making students face ethical social planning so they may become better practitioners in their professional life.
Activities – Studio Outline
| Activity | Description | Key dates for activities | Key learning objectives |
|---|---|---|---|
| Welcome to the Studio | Introduction to the project | Tue 24 Jul 2018 | Identify planning issues |
| Site Visit 1 | Meeting partners and walkabout | The 26 Jul 2018 | Critical thinking & ethics |
| Research 101 | Designing research and policy | Tue 31 Jul 2018 | Identify planning issues |
| Applied Research | Unpacking local issues | The 02 Aug 2018 | Critical thinking & research |
| Research 101 | Using social research methods | Tue 07 Aug 2018 | Conducting research & teamwork |
| Site Visit 2 | Site auditing / mapping | The 09 Aug 2018 | Critical thinking & research |
| Research 101 | Scoping theory | Tue 14 Aug 2018 | Critical thinking & research |
| Applied Research | Site analysis: well-being lens | The 16 Aug 2018 | Identify ethical challenges |
| Applied Research | Site analysis: cultural lens | Tue 21 Aug 2018 | Identify ethical challenges |
| Applied Research | Piloting community engagement | The 23 Aug 2018 | Respond through creativity |
| Site Visit 3 | Mapping visual data | Tue 28 Aug 2018 | Conducting research & teamwork |
| Applied Research | Site analysis placemaking lens | The 30 Aug 2018 | Respond through creativity |
| Site Visit 4 | Engaging community: interview | Tue 04 Sep 2018 | Conducting research & teamwork |
| Site Visit 5 | Engaging community: interview | The 06 Sep 2018 | Conducting research & teamwork |
| Applied Research | Site analysis: citizen lens | Tue 11 Sep 2018 | Systems thinking in planning |
| Site Visit 6 | Pop-up intervention for data | The 13 Sep 2018 | Conducting research & teamwork |
| Research 101 | Social research & analysis | Tue 18 Sep 2018 | Critical thinking & research |
| Studio Improv | Content determined by students | The 20 Sep 2018 | Variable |
| Community presetation | Presenting to practitioners | Tue 02 Oct 2018 | Communication |
| Community presetation | Presenting to practitioners | The 04 Oct 2018 | Communication |
| Studio Improv | Content determined by students | Tue 09 Oct 2018 | Variable |
| Studio Improv | Content determined by students | The 11 Oct 2018 | Variable |
| Research 101 | Getting to the finish line | Tue 16 Oct 2018 | Project management & evaluate |
| Evaluation | Evaluation workshop | The 18 Oct 2018 | Project management & evaluate |
Location
Students
The following students are enrolled in this studio and have chosen to appear on the Place Agency website. You may access more information about them and their interests by clicking each of their photos.
This subject is available to students enrolled in The University Of Melbourne throughout Semester 2 2019.
I am enrolled in this studio, add me to the studio profile.Studio Leaders
Andrea Cook
Imogen CarrProject champion
Greg Denham
Partners
Greg Hordacre
Erika Russell
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