Atlassing sustainable development: a participatory and critical approach to neighbourhoods in transition

ABSTRACT

Sustainable neighbourhood development in historical multicultural contexts is a complex process encompassing many different issues (e.g. climate, biodiversity, social inequalities and wellbeing) and actors (residents, experts, local authorities and organisations). Different kinds of maps and representations support knowledge exchange, mediation between different practices and ambitions, as well as vision building among participants in different stages of the development process. Based upon the authors’ research experiences in historical garden city neighbourhoods in the city of Genk (BE), as well as existing literature and practice review, this paper discusses the production of an atlas as a critical and participatory practice for transdisciplinary research in sustainable development. By engaging with the methods of critical cartography and participatory mapping, we propose the process of ‘atlassing’ as a tool to support negotiation between various sustainability aspects and related everyday practices, actors and participatory activities.

RÉSUMÉ

Le développement de quartiers durables dans des contextes historiques multiculturels est un processus complexe qui intègre de nombreux enjeux (par exemple le climat, la biodiversité, les inégalités sociales, le bien-être) et de nombreux acteurs (les résidents, des experts, les autorités locales, des organisations). Différents types de cartes et de représentations sont utilisées pour l'échange de connaissances, comme support de médiation entre différentes pratiques et ambitions, ainsi que comme support de construction d'une vision entre les participants à différentes étapes du processus de développement. A partir des expériences de recherche des auteurs dans les quartiers historiques de la cité jardin de la ville de Genk (Belgique) ainsi que d'un état de l'art sur la littérature et les pratiques, cet article traite de la production d'un atlas comme une pratique critique et participative pour une recherche transdisciplinaire dans le domaine du développement durable. En s'engageant dans l'utilisation de méthodes de la cartographie critique et participative nous proposons un processus de construction d'atlas comme un outil pour aider les négociations entre les différents aspects de la durabilité et les pratiques quotidiennes ; les acteurs et les activités participatives qui y sont associés.

KEYWORDS:

• Atlassing
• sustainable development
• garden cities
• critical cartography
• participatory mapping

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Neighbourhoods planned in line with the garden city model.

2 Waterland – https://www.waterlandvzw.be/ and Breekijzer – https://breekijzer.be/wie.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Barbara Roosen

Barbara Roosen is an architect, tutor, and postdoctoral researcher at the research group Spatial Capacity Building at the Faculty of Architecture and Art, Hasselt University, Belgium. Her research focuses on the critical agency of mapping and imaging in spatial design processes. In her Ph.D. thesis (2021), she investigated ‘critical atlassing’ as a dialectical design approach to mapping and dialogues. She obtained a MA in Architecture at Sint Lucas School of Architecture and Arts, Brussels, and a MA in Human Settlements at KULeuven.

Mela Zuljevic

Mela Zuljevic is a design researcher interested in the intersections of visual communication, participatory design and critical development studies. Currently working as a senior researcher at the Leibniz IfL (Cartography and Visual Communication) on the KonKoop project (Conflict and Cooperation in Eastern Europe). She obtained her PhD at the Faculty of Architecture and Art at the Hasselt University and MA at the Academy of Fine Arts in Sarajevo (Visual Communications).