{"id":15804,"date":"2016-05-20T19:55:51","date_gmt":"2016-05-20T19:55:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/?post_type=blogpost&p=15804"},"modified":"2016-05-20T19:55:51","modified_gmt":"2016-05-20T19:55:51","slug":"land-use-partnership-detroit-future-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/land-use-partnership-detroit-future-city\/","title":{"rendered":"Land Use In Partnership with Detroit Future City"},"content":{"rendered":"

This blog was written by current fellows and project coordinations leads Imani Mchunu and Christopher Johnstone.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\"CDFor five weeks this spring, we had the pleasure of serving as Project Coordination Leads\u00a0for the Challenge Detroit Land Use project with the Detroit Future City (DFC) Implementation\u00a0Office and Black Family Development Inc. We oversaw the project timelines of six teams of\u00a0Challenge Detroit fellows as they worked for five weeks around various land use topics in the\u00a0Osborn neighborhood of Detroit. These topics include an ambassador network of individuals\u00a0who have transformed side lots in their neighborhood to provide ideas and support for others\u00a0interested; a funding guide to bring the dream of transforming a lot into fruition; the actual\u00a0utilization of the DFC Field Guide to Working with Lots to transform a lot on Rolyat Street in\u00a0Osborn; a prioritization report and strategy to enhance the Safe Routes to Schools program in\u00a0the neighborhood; an Osborn neighborhood branding strategy; and lastly, a tool lending and\u00a0sharing program for people interested in borrowing tools for individual or group projects. The\u00a0Challenge Detroit fellows utilized the design thinking method (empathize, define, ideate,\u00a0prototype, and test) to answer the following challenge design question: “How might we\u00a0strategically use side lots as a component of a larger open space strategy to promote future\u00a0land development at the neighborhood level?”<\/p>\n

\"lot\"As Project Coordination Leads for this project, we learned a great deal about how to\u00a0effectively communicate with a group of 29 fellows while balancing different working styles to\u00a0keep everyone on track and working toward the common goal of providing recommendations to\u00a0both the DFC Implementation Office and BFDI around neighborhood land use. The six teams\u00a0realized early on in the project that the Osborn neighborhood has a strong sense of pride and\u00a0identity, allowing the teams to tap into that energy and excitement for neighborhood initiatives\u00a0already present in Osborn. Our hope as Challenge Detroit Fellows is that we can acknowledge\u00a0and feed off of the current programs and initiatives while providing new perspectives and easily\u00a0implementable recommendations. The Safe Routes to School initiative in Osborn along with\u00a0the\u00a0Field Guide to Working with Lots address the challenges caused by blight in the City of Detroit\u00a0by giving residents the tools they need to take ownership of their communities by becoming\u00a0ambassadors for the safety and the beautification of their neighborhood.<\/p>\n

We experienced a true collaborative effort between three organizations working together\u00a0to identify how they could maximize the Fellows’ skillsets while fulfilling the needs within each\u00a0organization. The process required all of us in the room to listen actively to each other to ensure\u00a0that our challenges could be addressed within the given timeline while also fitting into the\u00a0Challenge Detroit designing thinking framework.<\/p>\n

To see our design and implementation team’s hard work \u00a0check out this video.<\/p>\n