Abstract
Traditional urban planning often isolates nature, viewing it as something to be managed by experts and separate from daily life, which limits public engagement and diminishes urban ecological potential. This study proposes a co-creation approach to reconnect humans with nature in urban settings, with a focus on Nezu in Tokyo. Through plant observation workshops, participants collaboratively explored and categorized their everyday experiences with urban greenery, identifying three "plant patterns": "Green Life in Cracks," "Plants Murals," and "Everyday Gardening. “Building on these insights, a modular urban greening system called "CO-GREEN" was designed, consisting of ground, wall, and mobile modules. These prototypes integrate plants into artificial structures, promoting a symbiotic relationship between nature and the urban fabric. A public exhibition and evaluation of CO-GREEN revealed high visitor acceptance, fostering a “rediscovery of the spatial expressiveness of plants” and prompting reflections on the human-nature relationship and expectations for future urban greening. The findings suggest that co-creation can redefine urban plants as ecological agents and mediums for social interaction, fostering a more engaged and regenerative urban environment.
Keywords
Urban greening; Co-creation; Citizen participation; Nature Integration
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2025.859
Citation
Chen, W.(2025) Growing Together: Designing Green Infrastructure through Co-Creation in Nezu, Tokyo, in Chang, C.-Y., and Hsu, Y. (eds.), IASDR 2025: Design Next, 02-05 December, Taiwan. https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2025.859
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Conference Track
Track 6 - Co-creation
Growing Together: Designing Green Infrastructure through Co-Creation in Nezu, Tokyo
Traditional urban planning often isolates nature, viewing it as something to be managed by experts and separate from daily life, which limits public engagement and diminishes urban ecological potential. This study proposes a co-creation approach to reconnect humans with nature in urban settings, with a focus on Nezu in Tokyo. Through plant observation workshops, participants collaboratively explored and categorized their everyday experiences with urban greenery, identifying three "plant patterns": "Green Life in Cracks," "Plants Murals," and "Everyday Gardening. “Building on these insights, a modular urban greening system called "CO-GREEN" was designed, consisting of ground, wall, and mobile modules. These prototypes integrate plants into artificial structures, promoting a symbiotic relationship between nature and the urban fabric. A public exhibition and evaluation of CO-GREEN revealed high visitor acceptance, fostering a “rediscovery of the spatial expressiveness of plants” and prompting reflections on the human-nature relationship and expectations for future urban greening. The findings suggest that co-creation can redefine urban plants as ecological agents and mediums for social interaction, fostering a more engaged and regenerative urban environment.