This is a five-year research (2015-2020) that questions: How can digital tools design support the empowerment of the urban bottom-up movement?

Global urbanization is increasing rapidly and human activity is intensified in the city. At the same time digitalization is increasing its hold on our lives. The internet connects everyone and everything to each other in a global system of data and interfaces. A third trend is that of the bottom-up movement. We are starting to realize the incapability of the old systems of the industrial revolution to address the problems of an increasing complex and changing world. The urban bottom-up movement consists of flexible interdisciplinary create-networks who seem to be more capable of problem solving. The research question therefore is aimed at the convergence of the three megatrends: urbanization, digitalization and bottom-up networks: How can digital tools support the empowerment of the urban bottom-up movement?

The CET program is a research aimed at the best design of digital tools. The research has three work streams: 1) Mapping urban network by conducting research using Digital Methods, 2) Through the Partnership Gebiedonline research experiments should provide answers to design questions. The two streams together will cumulate in a widely supported solution for sharing ‘good design’. 3) Finding and developing such a solution is the aim of the third stream.

team: Ruurd Priester