2019
Throughout history, the Dutch have been world famous for reclaiming land and space. Most recently, the Dutch have been leaders in incubating space to create new jobs and creative industries for students, artists, entrepreneurs and startups to flourish. There are lots of best practice cases from Amsterdam demonstrating how the Dutch are able to quickly turn derelict properties into more productive and profitable districts. See: Amsterdam Broedplaatsen (creative industry hotbeds).
To help Boston develop a vision and plan to activate vacant City properties, Boston City Council and Wentworth Institute of Technology (and other local industry leaders) organized a high-impact event, to learn from the Dutch experience and develop a series of strategies that will identify and analyze underutilized or blighted properties in Boston’s Dorchester and Mattapan neighborhoods and develop short-term solutions to address the issue.
Solution
CITIXL teamed up with Wentworth Institute of Technology to help Boston City Council office develop a vision and plan to activate vacant city properties in the Dorchester and Mattapan neighborhoods. The result was a 2 day pressure-cooker borrowing, from the Dutch experience to help teams develop 8 short-term solutions to address the issue of blighted properties and communities. This 24hrs hands-on workshop used digital tools and strategies, relevant data collection, design thinking, immersion techniques, and rapid prototyping.
Future City Makers
More about this project
Partners
