Engage

DCDC focuses on community engagement and participation in the design and planning process. We believe that meaningful community-engaged design contributes to more just and equitable communities, ensuring that residents and other stakeholders have ownership in the decision making that impacts their neighborhood and spaces. Community engagement has the potential to center and celebrate local voices, working with and for existing residents toward outcomes that reflect the culture and character of the community.

To that end, we work with our partners to design community engagement strategies that meaningfully guide design decision-making and aim to include a variety of voices in the process.

All people have the right to well-designed, healthy spaces and neighborhoods. DCDC works with communities who typically are left out of design decision-making or do not have access to high quality design. DCDC facilitates an open and transparent process that builds trust and strives to include as many diverse voices from a community as possible. These perspectives are intentionally integrated into all designs to ensure that the spaces and neighborhoods reflect the spirit of the individuals and their communities. 

An audio-visual example of one community-engaged design project in partnership with Inside Southwest Detroit. Click here to learn more!