Design Thinking for Urban Studies – Reflection on Storytelling

Challenge    As a student who’s studying Sociology and Urban Science, the objective of my thesis is to  investigate slums around the developed countries (mainly East Asia), learn about their  similarities and differences, and build a model that could be applied to those struggling  communities. The time for the thesis is limited (3 months) and there’s not enough budget for  conducting field research in several countries. Therefore, I’m looking for efficient strategies  that could successfully identify the common factors that those towns display under the time  and budget constraint. Interviewing experts (working in the Urban Redevelopment Division  in European cities) was one of the methods that I chose to gain insights. In order to deduct  meaningful conclusions from their opinions, I have to explain the situations of Japan and  South Korean slums to them succinctly and effectively.    Selection    I chose Storytelling as I thought it could be a very effective way to explain the situations,  especially considering the fact that Urban Studies (that deals with people’s relationship with  their surroundings) is the field that I’m mainly dealing with. As the lecture said, “Storytelling  says it’s not about the lists of things we have to do, it’s about the connection that we give to  people about a piece of information that we’re trying to share.” In that aspect, storytelling  could do a fantastic job not only explaining Asian slums but also making connections  between their surroundings and my research.    Application    I first noticed that Local Administrations there (City Hall, Ward Office, etc.) have published  several “biographies” of the slum inhabitants in order to preserve the towns' history. By  reading through them, I was able to create two figures - A South Korean woman in her 80s  who settled down in the slum during the Korean War and a Japanese young man who’s living  in a rapidly aging town - that effectively conveys the living conditions & historical  importance of those slums. During the interview, I introduced the interviewee to the two  figures, explained their stories, and detailed the problems that they faced in their daily lives  (poor infrastructure, aging population, etc..) and asked for his insight. The expert, who was  working in Düsseldorf, then talked about his city’s history and the redevelopment process in  the ‘80s, and explained how the transformation of his city could be applied specifically to the  slums that I’m researching. He understood the circumstances very well and explained that  Germany and Japan/South Korea shared a lot of common characteristics that could be solved  by governmental policies.    Insight & Approach    So, I was surprised by how effective the strategy was! Just as the lecture and several books  on storytelling said, I did realize that people, in fact, think everything in stories. I believe that  storytelling conveyed my point very well; by making figures, the conditions of slums could  be vividly told. It changed my approach on Sociology/Urban Science, as it made me focus  more on people’s stories and less on statistics.

Given the circumstances, I do believe that Storytelling is the most effective design thinking  activity that I could use at the moment. Other tools, such as Mind Mapping and Learning  Launch, could be used while summarizing the insights that I earned by doing interviews and  researches and trying to come up with a solid conclusion.


Design Thinking for Urban Studies – Reflection on Storytelling Challenge As a student who ’s studying Sociology and Urban Science , the objective of my thesis is to investigate slums around the developed countries ( mainly East Asia ) , learn about their similarities and differences , and build a model that could be applied to those struggling communities . The time for the thesis is limited ( 3 months ) and there ’s not enough budget for conducting field research in several countries . Therefore , I ’m looking for efficient strategies that could successfully identify the common factors that those towns display under the time and budget constraint . Interviewing experts ( working in the Urban Redevelopment Division in European cities ) was one of the methods that I chose to gain insights . In order to deduct meaningful conclusions from their opinions , I have to explain the situations of Japan and South Korean slums to them succinctly and effectively . Selection I chose Storytelling as I thought it could be a very effective way to explain the situations , especially considering the fact that Urban Studies ( that deals with people ’s relationship with their surroundings ) is the field that I ’m mainly dealing with . As the lecture said , “ Storytelling says it ’s not about the lists of things we have to do , it ’s about the connection that we give to people about a piece of information that we ’re trying to share . ” In that aspect , storytelling could do a fantastic job not only explaining Asian slums but also making connections between their surroundings and my research . Application I first noticed that Local Administrations there ( City Hall , Ward Office , etc . ) have published several “ biographies ” of the slum inhabitants in order to preserve the towns ' history . By reading through them , I was able to create two figures - A South Korean woman in her 80s who settled down in the slum during the Korean War and a Japanese young man who ’s living in a rapidly aging town - that effectively conveys the living conditions & historical importance of those slums . During the interview , I introduced the interviewee to the two figures , explained their stories , and detailed the problems that they faced in their daily lives ( poor infrastructure , aging population , etc .. ) and asked for his insight . The expert , who was working in Düsseldorf , then talked about his city ’s history and the redevelopment process in the ‘ 80s , and explained how the transformation of his city could be applied specifically to the slums that I ’m researching . He understood the circumstances very well and explained that Germany and Japan / South Korea shared a lot of common characteristics that could be solved by governmental policies . Insight & Approach So , I was surprised by how effective the strategy was ! Just as the lecture and several books on storytelling said , I did realize that people , in fact , think everything in stories . I believe that storytelling conveyed my point very well ; by making figures , the conditions of slums could be vividly told . It changed my approach on Sociology / Urban Science , as it made me focus more on people ’s stories and less on statistics . Given the circumstances , I do believe that Storytelling is the most effective design thinking activity that I could use at the moment . Other tools , such as Mind Mapping and Learning Launch , could be used while summarizing the insights that I earned by doing interviews and researches and trying to come up with a solid conclusion .