Building the Public City (BtPC) was a research/design project aiming at co-design, co-implementation and co-management mechanisms for three public spaces for the City of Johannesburg, funded by UN Habitat.  Through a participatory method and testing of design interventions in three public spaces, the project sought to deliver safe and accessible public spaces for all users, increasing pedestrianism and implementing sustainable design principles. 

A representative array of stakeholders expanded the needs assessment to include voices which might otherwise be excluded from municipal decision-making and issues which might otherwise be overlooked – particularly that of women’s and youth safety in public spaces – leading to specific design and urban management interventions to rebalance the inclusiveness of public spaces.  A proposal for a handbook on participatory engagement included a toolkit of cards explaining different methods (shown above), with case studies, allowing the user to match appropriate methods to the project and continually update a set of case studies to the broader handbook.