Dreamcatching: introducing a reflexive tool to facilitate situated complexity in urban co-design practices

Abstract

ABSTRACT The co-design of urban places and the role of professional urban designers entails facilitating multidimensional processes to capture people’s dreams of attractive and inclusive future living environments. Nevertheless, many urban designers tend to focus on the material factors rather than the social and cultural ones. Based on findings from a case study and conceptual analysis, a systemic reflexive tool is offered to help scholars and practitioners to comprise the complexities of urban design. The Dreamcatcher tool highlights four perspectives of situated complexity and the synergies between them: place and setting; people and participation; vision and scope; and tools and methods.