Phronopolis
The pandemic has offered an opportunity to re-think the ways in which citizens and organisations serve communities. The primary driver of community resiliency, tested during successive lockdowns in the UK and worldwide, is the presence of thick networks tied to community anchor organisations with the capacity to support citizen-led endeavours.
Inspired by the emergence of mutual aid and informal support networks in communities throughout Glasgow, I used a speculative making process informed by expert interviews to imagine ‘post-pandemic citizenship’ and design vignettes of five anchor organisations within a speculative ‘wise city’ framed by principles of feminist solidarity economies.
Speculative Diary
Imagining what my character, Pedro, might have in his diary informed the direction of my design. My research had shown the importance of resilient community organisations and my process of speculative making reflected this facet of post-pandemic citizenship.
Takes a Village
The foundation of Phronopolis is a shift in the delivery of childcare, from private to community-based. In my engagements with leaders of informal community organisations, childcare emerged as the largest factor in allowing parents, particularly mothers, to participate in community-based work.
