Open Source Urbanism: A design method for cultivating information infrastructures in the urban commons

Open Source Urbanism (OSU) emerges as citizens self-organise to alter their urban environments by creating Do-It-Yourself (DIY) urban prototypes and sharing their design manuals on the internet. The examples of urban prototypes might vary from built structures, such as street furniture and urban gardening equipment, to decentralised energy designs and IT artefacts. They emerge as a natural response of citizens to perceived problems in their urban environments. Urban prototypes are designed, paid for, and implemented by self-organised citizens instead of developed by public or private companies and bought on the market. Whereas companies’ staff consist commonly of professionals, and the products are thoroughly tested and standardised to comply with all possible governmental regulations, urban prototypes are incomplete, as they embody the ongoing experimentation of citizens with their urban environments. Furthermore, amateur designers might have limited experience or background in this area.