Citizen design: A city card for Den Bosch

Designing policy

Greenberry worked over the past few months with the Municipality of 's-Hertogenbosch to involve residents in the design of a city card through design principles. While a city card is not unique, the design process to develop a widely accepted city card for every citizen of Den Bosch is. The city card not only has the potential to increase equality of opportunities and make new residents feel welcome. But also to enhance the engagement of residents in culture, sports, and other activities. The pass is also there to better assist residents with low incomes. They will get easier access to the assistance that is available to them in the municipality. To involve residents, a new way of development is therefore needed. To achieve this, we identified and united the interests of various stakeholders. This requires an innovative approach: a non-linear, iterative process to understand those involved, question assumptions, and redefine problems in order to find a relevant solution.

Co-designing a city card

With a detailed design question, we began to unite the target groups based on a shared vision of the city of Den Bosch. What characterizes this city, and why is it special? In a kick-off meeting, we brought together a broad group of involved parties. During the workshop, the initial ideas for the city pass were mapped out and visualized. On the streets, we spoke with residents. We interviewed them and let them imagine a life with a city pass. For instance, what would a day in the life of a 'Bosschenaar' look like with a city pass in their pocket? We also sat down with potential partners: how, in their opinion, should the city pass look? Based on all these insights, we developed three concepts. Coasters were distributed in various places in Den Bosch, Rosmalen, Vinkel, and Nuland with a call to participate in the concluding research. During Dutch Design Week, we offer a glimpse into our design process.