226 | Johanna Hoffman on Speculative Futures of Cities
Feb 13, 2023
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In this discussion, Johanna Hoffman, an urbanist and co-founder of Design for Adaptation, taps into her expertise to explore imaginative urban futures. She highlights the critical interplay between urban design and community needs, advocating for resilience in the face of climate change. The conversation dives into the importance of green spaces, integrating historical practices with modern solutions, and using narrative-driven approaches to engage communities. Hoffman emphasizes the transformative power of storytelling and technology like AI in shaping inclusive future cities.
Speculative futures allow us to explore alternative trajectories and envision potential futures beyond data and statistics.
Systems thinking in urban design considers the interconnectedness of factors to create holistic and informed interventions.
Inclusive and collaborative urban design processes using speculative futures enable diverse stakeholders to co-create cities that reflect community needs and aspirations.
Deep dives
The Importance of Speculative Futures in Urban Design
Speculative futures are a suite of design tools that help create high-resolution visions of potential realities. By challenging the status quo and expanding our ideas of what the future could be, they allow us to explore alternative trajectories. These tools can include science fiction, world building, and design fictions. They help us envision and articulate potential futures in a way that goes beyond data and statistics, making the impacts more visceral and relatable. Speculative futures also encourage collaboration, bringing together different perspectives and skill sets to generate more diverse and innovative ideas. They can be used in community engagement, urban planning, and decision-making processes to foster a more thorough exploration of potential interventions and their systemic implications.
The Value of Systems Thinking in Urban Design
Systems thinking is a crucial component of urban design. It involves considering the interconnectedness of various factors and their impacts on different aspects of urban life. By adopting a systems thinking approach, designers and planners can evaluate potential interventions and policies in a more holistic and comprehensive manner. This means looking beyond narrow perspectives and considering social, economic, environmental, and cultural dimensions. By understanding the systemic context and potential impacts of a decision or intervention, designers can make more informed choices that align with the overall goals of creating resilient, equitable, and sustainable cities.
Collaborative and Inclusive Urban Design Process
Urban design processes that incorporate speculative futures aim to be inclusive and collaborative. Instead of being limited to experts and decision-makers, these processes encourage participation from a diverse range of stakeholders, including community members who will be affected by the design interventions. By using narrative storytelling, interactive experiences, and role-playing games, speculative futures enable individuals to feel the potential impacts of future scenarios on a personal and emotional level. This deepens engagement and fosters a more meaningful dialogue that considers different perspectives and values. By involving various voices and expertise, urban design can become a co-creation process that reflects the needs and aspirations of the community while addressing complex challenges and envisioning more desirable futures.
The Influence of Science Fiction on Designing Cities
Science fiction has a significant impact on the design of cities and the way we envision potential trajectories of the future. Films like Blade Runner have influenced developers to recreate its aesthetic, resulting in real-world dystopian city designs. By using speculative futures tools and exploring preferred futures, designers, architects, and planners can challenge existing narratives shaped by science fiction and imagine alternative trajectories. The concept of scenarios, often employed in city planning and military strategy, originated from science fiction stories, highlighting the serious strategic thinking it can inspire.
Harnessing Speculative Futures for Collaborative Planning
Speculative futures provide a toolkit for collaborative planning that brings together diverse voices and stakeholders in envisioning society. These tools allow individuals and communities to challenge embedded thinking, explore potential trajectories of change, and articulate preferred visions of the future. By creating narrative spaces and using these tools, people can engage in a collective thought exercise, integrating new memories and experiences to inform future decisions. Collaborative planning facilitates power sharing, fosters trust, and leads to more meaningful and equitable trajectories of change.
Cities are incredibly important to modern life, and their importance is only growing. As Geoffrey West points out, the world is adding urban areas equivalent to the population of San Francisco once every four days. How those areas get designed and structured is a complicated interplay between top-down planning and the collective choices of millions of inhabitants. As the world is changing and urbanization increases, it will be crucial to imagine how cities might serve our needs even better. Johanna Hoffman is an urbanist who harnesses imagination to make cities more sustainable and equitable.
Johanna Hoffman received an MLA in landscape architecture and environmental planning from UC Berkeley. She is the co-founder and Director of Planning at urban futures firm Design for Adaptation. She has won fellowships from the European Futures Observatory and the Berggruen Institute, and served as Artist in Residence at the Buckminster Fuller Institute. Her new book is Speculative Futures: Design Approaches to Navigate Change, Foster Resilience, and Co-Create the Cities We Need.
