Can we design for protests?
This week in lecture we talked about how cities and politics are inseparable. I found it interesting to think about how that statement has really been proven over the years and especially through the form of protests. One thing that is unclear to me is how we can design urban spaces to accommodate these events or how a poor design could hurt them. For example, smaller sidewalks and streets that are difficult to block off vehicular traffic would be more unsafe that perhaps a street with wider sidewalks and retractable bollards, but are there other, more innovative ways we can design spaces for these uses?
Interesting point, when picturing protests it occurred to me that in Paris, Haussmans massive avenues become perfect opportunities for group protest. Any videos I've seen from the recent French retirement age protests all seem to largely take place in the avenues. Kind of an unintentional social benefit of Haussmans plan for Paris.
ReplyDeleteI agree that things like wider streets that are pedestrian-focused can help facilitate protests, but I also think it can be counterproductive to orchestrate where protests take place. By their nature, protests are meant to be disruptive in order to call attention to the issue they are trying to change. From that perspective, I think trying to anticipate and design protests, in some ways reduces their efficacy.
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