Reflexive summary of blog
Reflexive summary
This blog writing task is a very special learning experience for me, which not only makes me re-examine my understanding of the classroom content, but also makes me reflect on the importance of combining theory with practice. This process had some hard for me because learn to write to reflect is the first time I try. In fact, much like the design itself, they need to be constantly adjusted and optimized!
At first, I found that a lot of theories sound simple in class, but it’s hard for me to tell when I’m actually writing, what really shows and makes me reflect on is my lack of understanding and only considering the surface of the problem. For example, while researching housing design, I thought the idea of green building or shared housing was everywhere in the world. However, through the teacher’s explanation of the problem, I got a lot clearer, such as the “LILAC” project I began to realize that for a design proposal to be successful, it needed to be not only technically feasible, but also take into account the cultural and economic conditions of the local community. In my understanding, I began to think about the concept of community, and continue to explore. When I writing this blog, I tried to analyze this balance from many angles, such as how low-income families can benefit from green housing, but also worried about whether the design adds hidden costs. There are also many aspects, such as high maintenance costs, complex operation and so on. This made me realize that balance are important in design.
Secondly, I was deeply impressed by the “economic viability” section. The economic evaluation tool mentioned in the lesson. I learned how to use data to support my ideas, such as use tools like demographics, income levels, or market potential to judge value of project. This is completely new to me because I used to pay more attention to the beauty or functionality of the design itself. Then it ignores a lot of practical problems, because the purpose of the design is to benefit the residents, and it needs to be build. Sometimes some seemingly unimportant economic factors may directly determine the success or failure of a project.
Finally, I think this writing has given me a deeper understanding of public participation.When we discussing projects like Sponge City in the lessons. In my opinion, I thought that as long as the technology is advanced and the design is beautiful, the residents will love it. But when our teacher was communicating with us, I found that It’s more complicated than that. For example, some designs may look beautiful, but if the residents don’t understand what it means, I mean how relevant it is to them. It’s hard to attract people. When I writing the blog, I try to put myself in the other person’s shoes and stand in a different direction: if I were an ordinary citizen, what would I think of this design?
In general, this blog writing means more to me than just completing a task, I find that I still have a lot to improve, such as how to make complex concepts easy to understand or how to express your opinions more confidently.
References：
- Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government. (2021). National Design Guide: Planning practice guidance for beautiful, enduring, and successful places.
- Carmona, M., De Magalhaes, C., & Natarajan, L. (2017). Design Governance: The CABE Experiment (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315748979
- Mitlin, D. (2021). Editorial: Citizen participation in planning: from the neighbourhood to the city.Environmentand Urbanization, 33(2), 295-309.
