Summary: This international design ideas competition—the first in the CBDX series—asks, What does a city for all look like? How does it operate and function? How can it come into being? What place, structure, thing, system, process, or relationship must be forged to engender a more just and equitable ‘city for all’? And in particular—this is perhaps the most crucial question—the competition asks, How are these aims navigated by, through, and with the current uncertainty wrought by the ongoing global pandemic and the long-term existential threats of environmental degradation and climate change?
Description: This is the year a wide-ranging set of inequities—that have always been there—have been brought to bear. The only difference is that now a significantly larger percentage of the public, and wider society, has become aware of how urgent addressing these issues are. As various movements have demonstrated, such as Black Lives Matter, the time to act is now.
Thus, this competition asks entrants to consider how matters of equity and activism, ecology and environment, and health and wellness might converge—and unfold—within our future cities.
The call is open to all; students, professionals, individuals and teams. The entrants are asked to:
- Choose a non-fictional site on Earth—this could be an entire city itself, a neighbourhood, a block, a building, a street, an alley, a bus stop;
- Choose a non-fictional human client(s) that has been underrepresented, undervalued and/or under-addressed in prevailing/dominant design discourse; and,
- Design a place, structure, thing, system, process, or relationship that increases the inclusion, belonging and equity of your client within the context of your site—while keeping in mind the twin challenges of the pandemic and climate change as opportunities for the design to unfold.
Find more information and register on the competition website.