Using soft maps as an art-based planning intervention

In the past two years we have been working with visual artist Jan Rothuizen and colleagues from the city of Amsterdam to develop critical art-based methods for planning. Our main interest is how artworks can be used as so called boundary objects to analyse public participation in neighbourhood redesign projects. This means not only the conventional aim of making planning processes more democratic and accessible, but also allowing radically new ways of thinking what streets, green spaces, playgrounds and other basic elements of the urban environment are for and how they are created.

The process that we use is called soft mapping. A soft map is a hand drawn map that includes people and objects, but also ideas, reflections and parts of the neighbourhood redesign project itself. This way soft maps seek to create representations of place that not only express how they are experienced but also how they are being made and unmade.

Maps are based on neighbourhood ethnography, different workshop methods and observation of the public participation processes. Different elements and parts of the map can be modified, exported and imported during the process, but the aim is not to reach a consensus that all parties find acceptable. Rather, the end result is successful if it allows for so called estrangement – looking at something familiar with new eyes (Metzger, 2011). For citizens this can mean new imaginaries of how their neighbourhood is and how it could be, and for planners it means rethinking the standardised processes of their work.

As an example, below is a drawing of Vogelbuurt de Punt in Amsterdam Noord that is currently under construction.

In essence the idea behind our work is to challenge established ways of organising public spaces maintenance and redesign projects and question the hierarchical ways of knowing that render some aspirations, ideas and potential futures more or less relevant than others. In the upcoming academic works we will discuss the potentials and challenges of combining ethnographic knowledge, art-based intervention and real planning projects. In terms of policy development, the project will develop a policy letter on art-based methods in street maintenance and redesign.