BOX 19.5 The concept of user-generated design The process of user-generated design is intended to achieve greater involvement of residents in the planning of an urban environment. This advocates that at the first critical planning stage, referred to as programming, client and designer-planner should make explicit their assumptions and requirements for the project. The resulting detailed programme should specify the anticipated spatial and temporal patterns of living, giving infor- mation on detailed questions such as the arrangement of room walls and stairways and materials to be used. Among the methods of obtaining the views of prospective users (e.g those in a planned redevelopment area) are community meetings, questionnaire surveys and trade-off games. Zeisel et al. (1977) have employed this user-friendly approach to design low-rise housing for the elderly. In general, designersplanners should offer several alternative project plans for resident review and be prepared to modify designs in the light of user feedback. Clearly, no single design solution can incorporate all that is good and avoid all that is negative, nor can it satisfy completely all members of a user group. The key is to make informed tradeoffs to arrive at the solutions whose net cutcomes are most positive. With this sort of collaboration in advance of construction, the questions, needs, uncertainties and assumptions of all relevant parties can be tested so that the physical product is as responsive to residents needs as possible. Moreover, because the procedure explicitly states how each element of the design is supposed to work, it allows for post-occupancy evaluation which can lead to modifications and which can be fed into future design decisions.