Reframing cityLabs: Worldbuilding as situated pedagogy for public design learning
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Date
2026-06-08
Authors
Yantaç, Asim Evren
Mulry, Cathal
Linehan, Denis
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Design Research Society
Published Version
Abstract
Urban design education increasingly calls for methods that prepare designers to act within complex public systems. This paper reframes the Malmö CityLab, an experimental module within a master’s program on post-industrial cities, as a situated pedagogy for public design learning. Combining worldbuilding, design fiction, and persona storytelling, the CityLab enabled students and stakeholders to collectively speculate on Malmö’s futures across themes of regeneration, migration, and climate transition. Drawing on student artifacts and expert interviews, the study explores how speculative storytelling cultivates political sensitivity, collaborative reflexes, and systemic awareness, key capabilities for acting as public designers. Findings show that worldbuilding supports reflective, plural, and civic learning, positioning CityLabs as infrastructures for collaborative knowledge production and inclusive urban imagination. The paper contributes to emerging discussions on speculative pedagogies and their role in shaping the competencies, sensitivities, and methods required for public design education.
Description
Keywords
CityLabs , Civic imagination , Design capabilities , Design fiction , Public design education , Situated learning , Speculative pedagogies , Worldbuilding , [EngineeringArchitecture] , [HumanEnvironment]
Citation
Yantaç, A E, Mulry, C & Linehan, D 2026, Reframing cityLabs: Worldbuilding as situated pedagogy for public design learning. in Proceedings of DRS ., 408, Proceedings of DRS, vol. 2026, Design Research Society, pp. 1-16. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.1835