Co-Design for Sino-Australian Participatory Urban Media

Despite the differences in cultural, economic, and political systems, China and Australia are societies sharing rapidly urbanizing futures.This presents significant challenges for urban planning, placemaking, and the sustainability of livable urban communities. Using Chongqing as a case study, metaPLACE is an experimental project investigating how participatory urban media (large and small interactive screens, installations,fa?ades, and devices) can act as a co-designed interface between diverse communities, industries, and government stakeholders. The empirical data collected in this study is derived from a co-design workshop held in Chongqing in 2019 to explore how urban media can assist urban planners to design more livable urban places. The data indicates that there are a range of opportunities and concerns related to equitable placemaking, environment, the nature of interfaces and participation, ownership and management of data, large and small screens, and cultural and generational considerations. Our critical and comparative analysis of the research methods and cultural factors influencing the co-design process reveal deficiencies in widely accepted models of user experience design and design process used across industry and design research. This has significant implications for transcultural and interdisciplinary co-design and the establishment of a viable Sino-Australian design ecosystem.