Urban Community · Sophia Silverton (formerly Ian M. Cook and Kate McGinn)

Just neighbourhood planning

·25 min·1 clip

“Kids and fish, they don’t have voice” becomes the starting point for Just Hood’s city-design method.

1. Urban Community’s “Just neighbourhood planning” centers on Just Hood’s gamified neighborhood visioning method for more sustainable and equitable cities. 2. Sophia Silverton hosts Tatiana and Onorata, the founders of Just Hood, and their perspective matters because they describe the method they created and tested in Katowice, Poland. 3. The episode asks what women, children, and fish have in common in cities, and the answer is that these groups are often not heard in planning. 4. Tatiana and Onorata explain that Just Hood was born from three women from different countries and backgrounds reflecting on how they experience urban space. 5. They say the work started from a Polish saying that “kids and fish, they don’t have voice,” which they extend to women. 6. They describe Just Hood as a way to “uncover local knowledge” and map visions for “equitable neighborhoods.” 7. The method has three phases: identifying a community leader, running lectures and workshops, and producing a final master plan. 8. The workshops use futures thinking, speculative thinking, and “what if” questions to make participatory planning more accessible. 9. Tatiana says gamification helps approach the complexity of “special equity” because cities contain many different groups. 10. The guests say the format increases social interaction and can involve as many stakeholders as possible. 11. Onorata explains that the game creates communication, understanding, and empathy between residents by asking men to imagine pregnancy and caregiving. 12. She says participants often react with an initial shock before getting “inside the game” and smiling or joking. 13. The master plan becomes a graphic representation with icons and colors that inhabitants can understand. 14. The episode contrasts that approach with conventional plans that use zoning language such as “zone E1 slash 3.” 15. Tatiana and Onorata say the board can be placed on poles in the neighborhood when the budget allows. 16. They give specific workshop outputs, including a hedgehog route, a history alley, more precise bench placement, and benches sized for people who want to sit alone and read. 17. The conversation has an informal interview style, with Sophia asking practical questions about benefits, drawbacks, and next steps. 18. The energy stays collaborative and exploratory, with examples and follow-up prompts rather than debate or confrontation. 19. People interested in participatory urban design, gender equity, and neighborhood planning would likely value this episode. 20. Listeners wanting abstract theory without concrete planning examples might skip it.

As heard by us

A civic-minded look at planning that makes city design easier for inhabitants to read.

Urban Community turns neighborhood visioning into a plainspoken lesson in perspective-taking. The conversation with Just Hood keeps the focus on an interactive planning process that aims at more equitable, sustainable cities.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Press play if you want neighborhood planning that starts with people, not paperwork.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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