Development of participatory design processes for designing sustainable urban park in indonesia: a planning method in eco-model cities of japan

Participatory design projects in major cities of Indonesia became more popular since the mid- 1990s, when the Indonesian public administrations changed its systems from the previously strong centralization to the new local self-governance. In most of the public projects that mandated the public participation including in designing urban parks, however, the kinds of participation tended to be at the minimum level, such as holding the required public announcements and public hearings. Therefore, major cities of Indonesia have phenomenon of low use, and abandoned urban parks such as in Bandung City. As the substances of the participatory designs are increasingly in demand these days, it becomes more necessary to provide proper design tools and processes for better communications among the residents and experts. Based on the lesson learned from urban parks in Japan, this paper proposes a practical alternatives of design tool, applied to the three steps in the general participatory design processes. The three steps are 1) public information; 2) design workshop; and 3) feedback. The paper argues, among others, that utilization of appropriate design tools in each step contributes to better communications among residents and experts, which would eventually enhance the mobilization of community spirits among all participants. This paper clarified that Bandung needs to improve the parks by involving community and providing the communal space for participation.