See the public as your client

Cities only really thrive when citizens’ voices are heard. Yet as governments struggle
to get construction moving, they risk leaving society behind.

The current investment conversation is dominated by concerns about war and supply chains, climate and the economy, rather than the quality or mandate for new development. But if you skip the public dialogue early on, the blockages and delays simply emerge later in the form of objections, appeals, reputational damage and redesigns, when they are much more time-consuming and expensive to fix.

And the end result is a building or a place that lacks human connection
and fails to deliver on people’s practical and emotional needs.

The obvious truth is that people should feel valued and hopeful as their cities change. Everyone involved in city-making wants this to happen, from developers to architects, planners to activists. But so much community engagement comes too little and too late, without the style, vigour and inclusion
that will make most people want to be part of the conversation.

So how do we all do better?

Maybe it starts with understanding the public as our client. Not the only important voice, but the primary one. And if the public is your client, then citizens should be part of open conversations from the start,
with their voices shaping both policy and design from the bottom up.

That can be achieved in many different ways, depending on the context and the funding. What follows here are four stories from South Korea. They’re detailed, practical case studies written for people who commission or deliver community engagement.

We hope you will use them to inform the way you relate to the public, wherever it is that you work.

These case studies showcase grassroots projects ranging from walking groups to intergenerational workshops. The projects all took place in Seoul but their community-led techniques can be applied in any town or city, from Baltimore to Birmingham.

You can download accessible summaries of these projects from the Resources section on this page.
They each offer practical tips for any client commissioning new development
as well as community organisers and resident groups.

1) Learning to look

In ‘The Walking Drawing’ project, members of the public joined walking groups and toured their city, drawing the buildings on a portable easel. They discussed their observations with each other and with passers-by. This works as an early-stage engagement activity. It’s creative and inclusive.

2) Hearing from people who never get asked

Many South Korean children attend a private after-school academy, known as a hagwon. For most, it’s an intense, difficult experience, often in a faceless converted commercial building. This project gave them a chance to reimagine the design of a common building typology that no longer works for the users.
Every city has these. This process shows how to tackle them.

3) Finding common ground

If you live or work on the edge of a city, you’ll have seen the clash of new development with existing homes and neighbourhoods. This project, called ‘Soft Edges’, brought together children from new apartment blocks with older residents from long-established farming communities. It shows how to tackle social isolation and imagine options for retrofit, using an intergenerational process.

4) Using tech to capture emotions

‘If you love Seoul, you can wear it!’ saw a group of 40 participants taking photos of buildings with their phones. The images were clustered according to emotion and how each detail of the building made people feel. They then converted the visual data into the design of a façade. It shows the potential of AI for creative community engagement.

These four projects formed part of a larger Creative Communities programme at the Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism, led by Matt Bell and Dr Jiyoon Lee. It helped turn the Biennale into a city-wide conversation that belonged to everyone, not just professionals.

It began with an open call for proposals from designers, artists and activists with direct experience of collaborating with communities. Each project received KRW 20,000,000 (approximately USD 13,000) in public funding. Out of 83 applications, ten projects were selected and nine delivered,
directly involving over 1,000 participants, with the results showcased in
different formats during the Biennale to 810,000 visitors.

The four case studies featured here have been chosen because they represent the breadth of the nine projects and are replicable in other contexts across the world. The studies have been written by Hyelim Jang in collaboration with the Creative Communities project teams.

You can watch a film on the entire Creative Communities programme here.

Reflecting on the programme’s success and the value of meaningful public engagement, Matt Bell said:

“If you think about the public as your client, it creates less risk and better places. It’s not just ethically the right thing to do, nor are they your only client. But as a mindset, it’s fundamental to delivering good growth.”

Download the case studies below / 사례 연구 다운로드.

The Walking Drawing / 걷기 드로잉
English / Korean

Our Hagwon / 걷기 드로잉
English / Korean

Soft Edges: Weaving the colours of fields and home / 부드러운 경계
English /  Korean

If you love Seoul, you can wear it! / 사랑한다면 입을 수 있어요
English / Korean