Reflexive Summary – My Blogging Journey in Semester 2

Figure 1. 6 Reasons to Write Your Own Blog (John Heoschele, 2016)

The  Journey of Learning Urban Design

As I said in the last Reflective Summary, urban design was completely new field for me. My previous major was in industrial design. This led to the fact that every moment of learning urban design was new to me.

They both belong to the field of design. But, they differ in their way of thinking, design method, and goal. For example, industrial design focuses on the function, looks, and user experience of a product. It usually focuses on smaller design units. These include furniture, home appliances, and electronics. Urban design, requires me to take a more macro view of design issues. Urban design considers building and street layout. It also focuses on urban ecology, traffic flow, social culture, and people’s lifestyles. This process has taught me to look at a design project holistically. It helps me see how design affects and fits into a larger system.

Still, I often faced many difficulties in the learning process. This was due to the big differences between the two. For example, I lack understanding of some specialized concepts. I am also unfamiliar with the progress of urban design. And sometimes, I lack a holistic perspective. This is where blogging as a learning aid has helped me a lot.

The Journey of Blogging

Blogging has been important for exploring my field deeply. It helps me reflect on my own learning process and understand others’ ideas. It also lets me communicate with my peers. It has helped me in many unexpected ways.

The process of writing a blog is actually a systematic review of what I have learnt. When writing the blog, I need to review class notes and relevant literature. I also need to sort out and summarize what I have learnt. This helped me consolidate my memory. It also gave me a deeper understanding of some ambiguous concepts. For example, when writing a blog on gender mainstreaming in urban design, I looked at the relevant literature again. I combined it with my tutor’s guidance in class. In this process, I gained a deeper understanding of applying gender mainstreaming to urban design.

Also, blogging involves turning complex concepts into clear words. This process has honed my logical thinking and expression skills. Expressing complex design concepts in clear language is helpful for learning. It’s also helpful for future career development. Especially when communicating with clients and teams.

Finally the blog is an open platform for readers to comment and give feedback on my posts. This feedback often gives me new perspectives. They help me find my flaws and improve. For example, one reader’s comment summarized how gender mainstreaming developed. It covered what we have learned in the first semester. And many inspiring examples were given. This helped me to review what I had learnt before and at the same time opened up new perspectives.

A Vision for the Future

In general, writing a blog has helped me a lot in my urban design learning process. It has helped me join and deepen what I have learnt. It improved my thinking and expression. It also let me keep growing through feedbacks. In the future, I look forward to writing more blog posts. They are an important way to record my learning process. I can also share my design experience and improve myself.

Reference

Heoschele, J. (2016) 6 Reasons to Write Your Own Blog. Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/6-reasons-write-your-own-blog-john-hoeschele (Accessed: 18 May 18, 2024).