Participatory Design; A New Approach to Regenerate the Public Space

The following study aims to present an innovative approach for Design. Participatory Design is the model of direct involvement of different social groups in the design from functional tools to environments, social institutions and businesses. Diverse collection of practices has been developed to support this direct involvement by Participatory Design. People are invited to participate during different phases of an innovative and creative process; from initial exploration to problem definition and defining the problem and creating ideas for solutions. During development, they help evaluate proposed solutions. Participatory Design answers questions about users and their tasks and goals, then help users to make decisions. Participatory Design is characterized as a maturing area of research and as an evolving practice among designer. Architecture as a professional design are social constructs and the way for humans to consider the physical world in which they exist, and as social constructs, both reflect and shape the culture in which they arise. The authors go through the definitions of Participatory Design in order to achieve a new approache in design. various values which are inherent in the social fabrics are illustrated by emphasizing on cultural identity and activity. To illustrate the concept of this approach, landscape design of bazaar in mahallat as a case study is considered.This research will attempt to identify and analyze the local participation, and goes some way to providing practical solutions to tackle the local problems, utilizing an effective application of the principles of sustainable development on both environmental and architectural aspects.

Keywords:

Participatory design , Democratization , Public Space , Regeneration