Tuesday, January 5, 2016

From Human Transit — In planning discussions ask "who's not in the room?"

For 2016, let me propose a resolution: whatever room I’m in, I resolve to ask “Who is not in the room?” In other words, ask: What real points of view, and real dimensions of the human experience, are not represented in this conversation? How could their absence lead us to make a bad decision even with the best of intentions, and how do we compensate for that?
Why this? Because in many parts of society, including urban planning, the rooms in which decisions are made are getting smaller and less diverse, and that can make for worse decisions, no matter how well-intentioned the people in the room are. What’s more, creating a diverse room is harder and harder, because people are just less interested in spending any time in rooms with people who don’t share their experience — either physically or online.
So it is easier than ever, in this historical moment, for us to forge a seemingly complete society of people who think just the way we do. Read more: Who Is Not in the Room? (A Question for 2016) — Human Transit

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