Evaluating the Role of Participation in Different Design Phases for More Inclusive Housing

Urban growth and population increase have been major driving forces for cities, combined with an expanding heterogeneous sociocultural structure. The growing trends in urbanization pose massive challenges of inequalities and exclusions, primarily observed in housing. While housing was initially a sociocultural product involving users, it has transformed into a more standardized and financialized entity in the twentieth century, resulting in the abstraction of users from the production process. Against these exclusionary housing trends, it is the role of designers to redefine the place of users in housing for more inclusive results. So, this paper aims to investigate the potential of participatory approaches in housing to achieve more inclusive outcomes. Accordingly, accumulated knowledge on participation in housing starting in the 1960s is chronologically and interrelatedly discussed and mapped through prominent publications. Then, the benefits of specific participatory approaches in the inclusivity of housing are evaluated regarding three design phases to form a framework for future practices: i) design/predesign, ii) implementation, and iii) (post) occupancy. The study showed that participatory approaches at various phases and levels contribute to creating inclusive housing by increasing users’ representation in decision-making, demystifying professional tools, and allowing alternative and dynamic appropriation of living.