Regeneration practices for community engagement: co-designing spaces and services for social and territorial cohesion

The paper reflects on urban (re)developments to generate socially and environmentally integrated, resilient urban fabrics through a service design (SD) approach. In line with participatory action research conducted in three case studies within different geographical contexts, the authors delve into how co-design and user-generated design approaches within SD can serve as a means for community engagement, the creation of community-inspired service-system designs, the coordination of various stakeholders, and the practice of place-making. The novelty of this work lies in a design approach that fully intertwines places and social practices, culminating in a coordinated strategy for interpreting culture-led regeneration of territories. The paper poses two central inquiries: l) how an SD approach contributes to the transformation of urban areas into resilient environments, fostering synergies between social, environmental, and business interests (where applicable), and Il) how to fortify relationships among local economic and social agents to support the purposeful endeavours and strategies of these locales.