Design for Social Impact in the Afrikaanderwijk - welding your way into neighbourhood attachment

Design for Social Impact in the Afrikaanderwijk - welding your way into neighbourhood attachment

Villerius, I.

Tromp, N. (mentor)
Desmet, P.M.A. (mentor)

Industrial Design Engineering

Industrial Design

Master of Science Design for Interaction

2010-12-10

This graduation project is aimed at improving the liveability of the Afrikaanderwijk by using the Design for Social Impact [DSI] method. Within the Netherlands, there is a large number of post war suburbs that face an accumulation of problems such as a high unemployment rate, neglected housing facilities, crime and a lack of social networks or contacts. The Afrikaanderwijk is one of these so called ‘Vogelaarswijken’, located in the district Feijenoord in Rotterdam Zuid. The Afrikaanderwijk was built in the late 19th century during the development of Rotterdam’s city harbours and is one of the Netherlands’ first multicultural residential areas. Vestia, the housing corporation responsible for over 85% of the housing in the Afrikaanderwijk wants to improve the quality of life within this neighbourhood. An important element of their plans is an urban renewal project, which involves 15 years of demolition, forced relocation, annoyance and constructional activities. By using the DSI method I was able to have the desired social impact as a starting point for design. By first looking at a societal context and the impact you want a product to have on this context, it is possible to subsequently design a product -interaction- stimulating this behaviour. The DSI method is based on this approach. Therefore, the aim of this project is to design a product which intends to improve the quality of life within the Afrikaanderwijk by realizing a specific social impact. This project was a part of the doctoral research of Ir. N. Tromp on this method. By applying the DSI method to the case of the Afrikaanderwijk, she was able to evaluate the applicability of the method. Aimed Societal Impact: Because of the (cultural) segregation within the neighbourhood and its habitation of entire families, the Afrikaanderwijk knows strong but small communities, which lead to a strong social attachment to the neighbourhood. Physically, residents seem to have only little attachment to the area; it is not so much the current physical environment of the neighbourhood, but the people that live here and the built memories over time which create pride and connectedness with the Afrikaanderwijk. This project wants to stimulate this physical attachment to the neighbourhood so people will also feel connected with their physical home environment, to trigger a feeling of responsibility and rootedness. With the upcoming renewal plans, and related changes, there is a risk of people losing this feeling of attachment. Instead of being a threat, residents can be stimulated to open up to the neighbourhood dynamics and incorporate the newly built environment in their habitat. This physical attachment can be created by explorative and personalising behaviour. Product: The welding works project is an integrated approach for improving the position and prospects of the local youth in the Afrikaanderwijk. While offering free welding courses, they get the opportunity to acquire a welding certificate and design their own fences which will be placed around the construction site within their neighbourhood. The fences are inviting residents towards the construction site instead of simply trying to keep them out. This way, the product stimulates personalization and exploration of the redevelopment activities within the neighbourhood. This way, the product responds to the concerns of three different parties; the certificate offers the local youth a qualification increasing their chances on getting a job or education, related residents have a personal connection to the redevelopment plans which increases their sense of rootedness and finally, Vestia has a positive solution for the upcoming years of fenced in spaces in their environment and a new way to find exposure for their commitment to the neighbourhood.

social
impact
neighbourhood
quality of life
urban redevelopment
fence

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:3babd8d3-15b0-42fb-a3e5-afdbebb37c09

Campus only

Student theses

master thesis

(c) 2010 Villerius, I.