The neighbourhood, Our garden: an instrument to facilitate an open and ongoing debate

Abstract

The detached single-family house in green surroundings is still the most common and desired type of living in peri-urban Flanders. To respond to societal and ecological challenges, this way of living needs to be reconsidered. Despite a growing attention to more collective initiatives, there is often no need nor desire for change from the viewpoint of residents. We present the interactive installation The Neighbourhood, Our Garden, shown on the 7th Design Triennial of Flanders, as a platform of an open and on-going debate between visitors and experts, tackling the strict distinction between private and public space, and questioning the concept of exclusive ownership to concepts of collective use and management. We explore on which issues or challenges visitors and experts are willing to act collectively in order to transform a neighbourhood in a durable way. Furthermore, we assess the scale of the neighbourhood as a valid scale to question these concepts of ownership. We test this within a method that actively invites participants to discuss this current way of living. Hence, we want to get insight in the transformations and challenges this pattern of housing is facing, in the diversity of opinions it produces, and as such raise awareness.