2019 | RESEARCH FOR DESIGN, USER EXPERIENCE
TIUD
A Strategic Solution for Social Innovation
In the first Interuniversity DesignWorkshop, an initiative as part of the World Design Capital program, was intended to use the design exercise as a facilitator, for an urban development project (social cohesion), in the Iztapalapa neighborhood.
All in order to offer open and collective platforms from which to propose alternatives, materialize intentions and test solutions to the challenges that arise in a complex society like ours.
1st place winning project of TIUD (Interuniversity Design Workshop) Exhibited at MUCA and Espacio CDMX, Architecture and Design.
Context
The deterioration, vandalism and abandonment of public spaces in areas of high marginalization and vulnerability in Mexico City was peaking by 2017.
The lack of recreational activities in these communities causes problems such as insecurity, violence, lack of trust, breakdown of social ties, high levels of stress, poor waste management, visual / auditory pollution and, consequently, lack of a sense of belonging to the communalspace.
IZTAPALAPA - PROJECT’S LOCATION
During the first quarter of 2017, the Iztapalapa area became the most dangerous in Mexico City, increasing the incidence from 75 to 82 crimes per day. It was for this reason that Col. Santiago Acahualtepec, Iztapalapa, was approached as the case study.
Through interviews, we learned that residents recognize that public and recreational spaces are areas that they should not access, but there is also a great need for their recovery, since the best security is given by inhabiting the space.
Deportivo Rebeca was identified as a convergence node between different services in the neighborhood: a public library, a health center, street market, school and a gym. However, the park had become a space for criminal competition, drug trafficking, among other activities that were putting the safety of the locals at risk.
Due to the lack of public lighting and misuse of the space, there was the almost permanent presence of groups of homeless people, drug addicts, drug dealers and even a couple of murders were recorded within its space during the research phase.
AREA SURROUNDINGS
All these factors caused a lack of sense of belonging towards the space, which lead us to asked ourselves:
How could we create social cohesion in a highly marginalized area through the intervention of public spaces?
Project phases
Research Methodologies Implemented
Demographical context research: runned through user validation, data analysis, user participation surveys.
Social Interaction, Behaviours, UX research: runned through in-depth interviews, participatiry design, concept and usability testing.
1.0
Intervention
Through qualitative methods, we learned that: the child population was the main engine of the families; illiteracy rates in the area were an obstacle; mistrust of political parties had worsened in recent periods, so the residents preferred to do the maintenance themselves.
During the intervention, reforestation of green areas, cleaning of spaces, maintenance of sports fields, correct signaling of the space, etc. was carried out.
2.0
Impact
The proposal aimed to replace the narrative of insecurity in the physical space, with a counter- narrative based on the imaginary space that people in the community would ideally like to have, establishing a positive perception towards sports and culture.
A few weeks after the design intervention, the neighborhood independently created an assembly through which they organize activities such as sports tournaments, dancing classes, cleaning and painting of the park. Months later, an urban garden and open-air cinema development began.
