Human/Non-Human Public Spaces: Designing for resilient urban neighborhoods

Human/Non-Human Public Spaces: Designing for resilient urban neighborhoods

This booklet and the accompanying card set present ‘Human / Non-Human Public Spaces’ – a design perspective on neighborhood resilience. This perspective encourages designers, policymakers, and community organizers to understand and promote neighborhood resilience in a particular way: it shows the potential of public space as a site for intervention to strengthen both human and non-human communities.


The booklet contains an elaborate introduction to the design perspective. It theoretically grounds the perspective and situates it in our present time, marked by the Covid-19 pandemic and other emerging crises.


With the card set, the design perspective can be explored in a more hands-on way. By describing actionable design strategies based on real-world examples, the cards aim to inspire and inform projects and initiatives that aim to promote neighborhood resilience.