Summary
Depending on where you are in the world, there are several reasons why civic design has become a valuable methodology for governments. Within the scope of our work in Istanbul, We will talk about increasing the capacity of institutions producing and providing public services to create innovative services, system design, and adapting civic design models to innovative service development processes for local governments in developing countries.
Key Insights
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Istanbul's urban identity requires balancing preservation with transformative development.
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Henry Prost's master plan failed due to heavy intervention and disregard for social dynamics.
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Rapid urbanization and demographic shifts in Istanbul have compounded infrastructure and social challenges.
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Political fragmentation and party-led governance complicate consistent implementation of public service design.
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Public participation in Istanbul's urban projects remains limited and often superficial.
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Common approaches like expert workshops and urban design competitions exclude broader citizen input.
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Istanbul lacks qualified staff and systemic processes for implementing effective civic service design.
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Civic design methodology prioritizes understanding community needs through micro-workshops and long-term engagement.
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Iterative prototyping using lead user approaches and low/high fidelity methods can improve public service implementation.
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The Park and Ride project exemplifies applying Civic design to reduce traffic congestion in Istanbul—addressing real user needs.
Notable Quotes
"Finding the balance between transformation and preservation is a delicate issue in the city."
"Prost's master plan imposed a heavy interventionist burden on the historical structure of the city."
"Some old-fashioned solutions bring new problems."
"People living in Istanbul often forget they live in one of the most beautiful cities because of their challenges."
"In Istanbul, public participation has only started to be considered seriously in the last 10 years."
"Urban design competitions are declared public but only experts participate, often ignoring residents’ desires."
"We must keep in mind Istanbul lives governance issues and lacks qualified staff for public system design."
"Currently, public innovation is reduced to collecting complaints rather than understanding users."
"Our aim is to create innovative service solutions by involving students and stakeholders in the design process."
"Park and Ride will apply the public service design approach for the first time in Istanbul."
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