IDW 2020

4 5 Neighbours of the cap: testing participation The demographic superdiverse Antwerp par- ticipation processes, such as the participation process for the capping of the ring road, are still attracting a too one-sided (unbalanced) audi- ence of highly educated native citizens. Ethnic groups and groups of vulnerable native-citizens, very often residents of the social highrises along the ringroad, continue to be under-represent- ed. This is strange, because these inhabitants would be among the first beneficiaries of the tremendous changes the ring road cap will bring about. How the participation process for the ringpark on the Antwerp ringroad could involve more and more diverse inhabitants is the topic of a research conducted by the Research Group for Urban Development of the University of Antwerp in co-operation with the participation and communication firm Common Ground. The research is commissioned by the city of Antwerp and the Flemish Governement (Urban Policies). The research team therefore wants to fully focus on ‘tactical urbanism’ (design and build for the meantime) because playful building activities in public space can stimulate the participation of groups that remain underrepresented during more classical participation processes. Urban tactics not only offer the possibility of getting to know insights on the potential of the future covering of the ring road. They also provide the opportunity to increase the awareness of vulnerable groups of the issues at stake and the chances for solutions for their community needs. And also to point out that, according to their choice, they can have agency in appropriating government plans. The ringpark between the neighbourhoods Luchtbal and Lambrechtshoeken was selected as a pilot case to test the methodology devel- oped by the research team. For the ‘Internation- al Design Week (IDW)’ of the Faculty of Design Sciences at the University of Antwerp, this was a unique chance for performing the intended design activism in a real life setting challenged by the research question: Can the cap of the ring become a new common? And for whom? For IDW, the co-operation with the research team allows both students and workshop leaders to get in contact with local actors and local knowledge. Moreover the workshops do not start from scratch but are informed by the intermediate results of social-spatial analy- ses, performed by the research team. For the research team, the IDW is an interesting case to gain experience with the selected participation techniques and to investigate if they allow to reach a broader public. During IDW 2020 250 students guided by 35 international designers, artists and academics will bring diverse residents together in 17 artistic workshops, marked by the covering of the ring road and the connection of the neighbourhoods Luchtbal and Lambrechtshoeken. The workshops will: - show the future potential of the covering of the ringroad to residents. This can be done by testing ideas of inhabitants, students and workshopleaders for the use of the new park in the existing but abandoned green areas along the ringroad. Or by concretising possible entrances and routes to the future ringpark by means of temporary constructions. - design, build and test temporary street furni- ture, canopies, information kiosks and places of encounters that can keep the neighbour- hoods liveable and connected during the construction period. - think of and test interventions that can imme- diately improve unattractive places and routes between Luchtbal and Lambrechtshoeken. - support slumbering or fresh civic initiatives. At the same time all these actions form opportu- nities for discussions among the research team and citizens about the programme and the mor- phology of the future park, as well as about the organization of measures for liveability during the construction period. Marleen Goethals project leader participatory process