The city without a soul
Recently I did listen to a
podcast about the growing power of cities. As most people are living in cities
now, existing cities are growing beyond their limits and new cities are being
established.
An example of such a new city
is Songdo
in Korea, a $ 40 billion project. The reporter did share her experience being
there. She was not planning on living there, as it appears to be a “city
without a soul”.
Again, this is an example
where technology and business goals are taking precedence over human needs. But
what is a city without people?
There are also many companies
without a soul. The core mission of those organizations is to produce results
and humans are not part of the design, they are just part of the resources. But
what is a company without people?
Humans are the main users of
companies and of cities. You could even call them the most important customers.
Design Thinking principles
are being used to put the user at the heart of the process, of everything.
How would cities,
organizations, companies, communities, houses look like when they are designed
with the main user (i.e. you and me) in mind? Wouldn’t it be great if they are
designed with your needs as the starting point and as the main metric (how
satisfied are you with your environment)?.
Isn’t it time to stand up and
take control and ownership for our basic conditions of life?