ABSTRACT
Since the late 1970s, participation has become a hallmark of social inclusion. This chapter explores the concept of participation – in both its social and architectural dimensions – through two participatory projects in Central Europe: a participatory upgrade of the playground in Mortarapark, Vienna as part of an effort to make Vienna’s parks more ‘gender-sensitive’, and the renewal of Teleki Square Community Park, situated in the most stigmatized area of Budapest, as part of the ‘socially sensitive urban rehabilitation programme’ of the 8th district.
While both cases can be seen first as good examples of socially sensitive design, we argue that the participatory process and certain physical features weaken social cohesion by dividing social groups spatially. In the first case the division is gender-based, while in the second case it is class-based. We hence intend to answer the following question: While in theory participation aims towards inclusion, how does its practice exclude or separate certain groups therefore weakening social cohesion?
We examine our cases through interviews with the civil participants and designers, municipal and media articles, as well as direct observation. The first section gives an overview of the concept of social cohesion and participatory design. The second part focuses on the participation and design process.
