Envisioning the City: A Design-Oriented Communication Process for a Sustainable Urban Transformation

Abstract

The paper presents the results of an initial exploratory phase of “Imagine Milan,” an educational and research project with a great experimental character for experiencing communication formats capable of promoting social dialogue and innovation, focusing on the theme of sustainable mobility and the city of Milan, which involved teachers and students of the Faculty of Design (Politecnico di Milano) in collaboration with Milan City Council. The videos are instruments for the common and internal dialogue among decision makers involved in the design of infrastructure and, above all, promoters of a new idea of Milan as a sustainable city. Project objectives were promoting a sustainable mobility culture, building and promoting a new image of Milan, facilitating dialogue between Milan City Council and stakeholders. In synthesis, we developed a communication system according to three main actions: listening, envisioning and promoting. First of all, the paper will present an overview of the videos and the results. Following will be faced the theme of communication to the citizens through the use of storytelling. Or how tales and the “dramatization" of everyday life can lead audience from emotion to awareness, and thus promote the spread of social behaviour and encourage best practices towards sustainable mobility. Finally, we will focus on the relationship between imaginary and scenario, highlighting potentiality and tools of design for envisioning transformation, translating cultural repertoires and producing new visions that are both brand new and shared.

Keywords: Communication System, Listening, Envisioning, Promoting, Social Innovation