During his PhD research, anthropologist Leeke Reinders lived among professionals and inhabitants of a post-war neighbourhood. He noticed that the end-users are often absent in the design process.
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Dynamic neighbourhoods appeal to Reinders. For instance, he lived for half a year in the Paris banlieues, best known for the numerous cars that were set alight during the civil unrest in 2005. He found out that by friendly saying bonjour, the youngsters distrusted him even more. Only when he learned a bit of argot (street French) and dressed a little wilder, he was allowed a bit nearer.
He used the same blending-in technique nearer to home, in the Schiedam district of Nieuwland: a neighbourhood that was built according to modernist principles and offered working-class housing in four-storey flats with large communal lawns in between. Meanwhile lots of immigrants have moved into Nieuwland, resulting in tensions between old and new inhabitants. Renovations have been undertaken with the purpose of upgrading the area to attract young working families and make the housing more profitable.
Reinders wanted to compare the view of designers and policymakers with those of the inhabitants. The city planners’ perspective is usually well preserved in plans, maps, reports and designs. Reinders contrasts that view with those from the inhabitants half a century later. He used the technique called ‘narrative mapping’ by having people draw their personal map while being interviewed about their surroundings. The outcomes are staggeringly various, and give unexpected insights in how people actually live.
Confronted with those radically different perspectives, Reinders recommends architects and students to go and visit a place before they start designing. “Look around, talk with some people, see how public and private spaces work instead of just starting up Google maps.”
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