Participatory Design and Self-building in Shared Urban Open Spaces

Carolin Mees holds a Dr. Ing./PhD in Architecture and a Dipl.Ing/ M.A. in Architecture, both from the Berlin University of Arts, as well as a Vordiplom/ B.A. in Architecture from the University of Fine Arts in Hamburg, Germany. With her office mees architecture Carolin Mees has designed community-based open space structures since 2007, when she led the participatory design of the Gardenhaus shelter structure for the municipal community gardens program of New York City, GreenThumb. Carolin Mees has been the Project and Design Coordinator for New York City’s Mayor’s Offices Gardens for Healthy Communities Initiative that resulted in the participatory design and self-building of 13 new community gardens from 2012-2014. She has continued to work as an architect and researcher in the field of community-based urban design and has published widely about her research. Carolin Mees has been teaching in the field of architecture, landscape architecture, sustainable systems and designing urbanagriculture at various universities in Europe and North-America since 2009.

• Foreword.- Chapter 1: Introduction.- Chapter 2: The emergence of shared gardens and self-built structures in European cities.- Chapter 3: The emergence of shared gardens and self-built structures in North American cities.- Chapter 4: The emergence of community gardens in New York City with focus on the South Bronx.- Chapter 5: The impact of stakeholders on the development of community gardens in the South Bronx.- Chapter 6: Organizing, planning and governing community gardens.- Chapter 7: Community gardens and self-built structures as a form of cultural expression.- Chapter 8: Participatory design of community gardens and self-built structures: Lessons from field experiences.- Chapter 9: Conclusion.- List of Figures.