Kenton Women’s Village 1.0

The Kenton Women’s Village 1.0 is a significant example of the potential for participatory design to address complex social issues such as homelessness. The project was successful in providing safe and secure housing for women living in Portland experiencing homelessness, and it received widespread recognition for its innovative approach. According to the Center for Public Interest Design's website,  "the success of the Kenton Women's Village is the result of a truly participatory design process that included Kenton residents, houseless women, service providers, and designers."

The design process for the village involved close collaboration with various stakeholders, including workshops, charrettes, design reviews, and focus groups, to create a design proposal that would be affordable, inviting, and promote community building and personal recovery. A crucial factor in the design was that all elements had to be easily removable from the site and relocatable to another location in anticipation of future site development.

Are social participatory designs and other forward-thinking housing policies, like ADU's aimed at addressing the "missing middle", largely dependent on progressive policies in fast-growing cities like Portland, Seattle, Minneapolis, and Boston? Or can designers meet the challenges that may arise with this design process head-on with their client(s)?