The majority of the world’s population now lives in cities. Urbanization and high density living offer both advantages, and challenges in terms of sustainability and citizen representation in its planning processes. Investment in opportunities for people and their human experiences, rather than just physical structures is crucial. The Citizen Dialogue project focuses on people’s connections with their cities. It explores how people perceive their cities, their neighborhoods, and the physical surroundings they encounter everyday. It aims to uncover the ‘little details’ that matter to people and make cities livable and lively.

Established models for plan processes do not ensure that all citizens are given a voice; marginalized groups are seldom heard. This is not only a democratic problem. It also leads to the risk of overlooking important social and cultural values for an area, as well as failure to recognise local, concrete and useful suggestions for its development. In collaboration with the city of Stockholm, this project develops both prototype tools and processes for participatory urban planning, in a manner that’s inclusive and engages groups traditionally underrepresented. In our first ongoing Citizen Dialogue project Drawing the City, we are currently exploring people's views of their cities and neighborhoods through hand-drawn maps and personal narratives.