Why & How

In The Creative Community Builder’s Handbook by Tom Borrup he emphasizes the value of community ownership during a project to ensure that the community at large is included in planning and development from even the earliest of phases. Additionally, it is important to collect an asset inventory of a neighborhood and learn the history of a place as it provides valuable context about the way a community has evolved and the things that are most treasured and cherished. This powerful sense of pride, achievement, and investment can inspire work in a community and lead to meaningful collaboration with developers and designers.

Challenge Detroit also embodies these values through the design thinking model. Remembering to keep the community as the focus, these strategies are particularly useful throughout our work so that we don’t lose sight of the bigger picture, that is, fostering growth in spaces by protecting existing resources and people while attracting needed assets to the area. Occasionally this work calls for repurposing outdated assets. As far as I am concerned, adaptive reuse should always be a priority, either as part of a strategic plan, a vacant storefront remodel, or entire reconstruction of infrastructure. I always advocate building from existing ideas and resources, especially in the case of preserving historic architecture. With physical developments, repurposing is an easy way to save project costs of demolition or building expenses, saves physical resources from being wasted, protects cultural heritage, and is much more environmentally friendly. While these factors should always be considered, the focus of the community should never be lost in the process.  As we wrap up the completion of our fifth challenge, I realize how many valuable tools I am taking away from my experiences, but always with people- the residents, the families, the children, the students, the seniors, mothers, and fathers, businessmen, innovators, artisans, and laborers- in mind.

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