Additional Team Members - Dr. Beatrice De Carli
Change by Design Johannesburg is a collaborative project by Architecture Sans Frontières UK (ASF-UK) and 1to1 – Agency of Engagement addressing housing justice and the right to adequate housing in inner-city Johannesburg.
The programme was launched in 2022/2023 with a one-day symposium and a week-long workshop, with the aim to support local grassroots efforts in addressing housing challenges in the inner-city of Johannesburg. The multi-year initiative is rooted in a longer history of ASF-UK’s collaborative work in South Africa, including a 4-year engagement in Cape Town between 2015-2018 and a workshop held in Durban in 2011.
Change by Design is ASF-UK’s longest-standing programme. It explores participatory design and planning as tools for advancing equity and deepening democracy in cities. Change by Design initiatives are grounded in partnerships with local stakeholders, and utilise design and planning methods to support communities who have been marginalised, so that they can affect change in the cities where they live.
The multi-year project aims to support various grassroots efforts that address housing justice issues in Johannesburg’s inner city. Support comes in the form of co-productive action-research events, activities, research inquiries, and supportive design activities.
Although the project is in its early stages, it heavily relies on closely-knit networks of actors who work together to collectively share and address these housing justice issues across South Africa. Through collaboration and idea sharing, the project aims to support a more sustainable and equitable future for those affected by housing injustice.
