From ideas to policies, through places:service design-driven prototyping guidelines for urban regeneration

Abstract

This paper describes the development of a set of service design-driven guidelines for prototyping in urban regeneration processes. After introducing urban regeneration as a policy area acting on cities’ social and cultural aspects, the authors consider three perspectives from design research to frame the service design intervention in urban regeneration. Further, the characterising aspects of prototyping in the public sphere are considered to advance a refinement of the typical service design approach to prototyping for this domain. The paper then describes the guidelines, developed through the experience of an ongoing research project, providing practical step-by-step suggestions for each prototyping cycle phase, a selection of tools from renowned design toolkits, and practical examples. The insights from this work intend to evolve the service design practice for the public sphere toward a more systemic perspective that considers the specificities and dynamics of public processes and ecosystems.