How to be a better lover (=designer) to everyone/-thing
- We need a holistic definition of design that helps us understand the breadth and depth of our role as designers … we are all designers.
- Design (planning, community development, etc.) must be seen as a continuous process. We don’t design it and then we’re done … we are in the domain of continuous creation.
- Our ethic for judging good design vs. bad must also be holistic. We must see that the purpose of our design is to facilitate life … all of life … and not just the life of those advocating a special interest.
- We need decision support systems that make cooperation easier than isolation. Let me say that again … we need decision support systems that make it easier for those involved to cooperate than to sit in isolation.
- Sustainability must be defined to accommodate growth, its rate, and its limits.
- We must be literate and competent with GIS, decision support systems, and the Internet. These three technologies are going to work together.
- We need a new institutional framework for our singular governmental agencies so they can cooperate more effectively and truly embrace the notion of place-based planning and design.
- The role of “design manager” (an “environmental architect,” if you will) must be established and crafted to provide the leadership for place-based planning programs.
- And finally … and this is very important … the inhabitants of a “place” need to participate as cocreators (“codesigners,” if you will) of their place.
