Designing Proximity: Reflections on Future Cities

This book showcases nine possible scenarios for future cities, based on different aspects and characteristics of the term "proximity". Different points of view have been investigated on many themes related to the city of proximities: from bottom-up design actions to the inclusive city, from neighborhood services to public space in transformation, to platforms and economies of proximity. When discussing the concept of proximity, it is imperative to several aspects of building and inhabiting the city of fifteen minutes. The city and its neighborhoods are complex structures, made up of stratified levels of evolving systems, that encompass administrative and political aspects, urban spatial considerations, the dynamics of human interaction, and more. The necessity to re-appropriate the urban space leads all inhabitants to contemplate different aspects of their lives concerning proximity space, reflecting on how behavior, actions, and relationships can be improved and transformed to make our future more sustainable. This book envisions future scenarios that will make public space an active and functional place for the city, more inclusive, responding to the needs and desires of the different populations that inhabit it.

Laura Galluzzo, Ph.D. in Design, is Assistant Professor at the Design Department of Politecnico di Milano and Visiting Professor at the University of Navarra, in Pamplona, Spain. She is Operational Manager of Polimi DESIS Lab within the international DESIS Network (Design for Social Innovation and Sustainability). Her research focus is on participative projects of (public) Spaces and Services. She has a specific expertise in the co-design of spaces as activators of collaborative actions, community hub, and incubators of social practices. She has been Researcher in various national and international research programs on this topic. She works on the relationship between Spaces and Services (S+S) design with a focus on temporary interventions, domestic, and urban transformations. She is Author of The Legacies of Interiors and Contemporary Living and many others scientific articles.

Francesco Zurlo is Full Professor of Industrial Design. He is Dean of the School of Design of Politecnico di Milano. His research interests focus on strategic, systemic, and creative research-through-design, considering the sustainable impact of business innovations and human flourishing. He is Member of the Scientific Committee of the Observatory of Design Thinking for Business of Politecnico di Milano and ADI Index, the selection of the most innovative Italian products and services, competing to win the prestigious national award “Compasso d’Oro”. He is Director of the Executive Master in Design Strategy and System Innovation. As Scientific Co-director, he follows the Master in Strategic Design and the Master in Furniture Design of POLI.design, a Politecnico di Milano consortium. He is Co-curator of the traveling exhibition―promoted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ADI―“Italia Geniale” and of the exhibition promoted by the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy, “Identitalia”.