Design
Designing for a Better Democracy
From graphic explainers of government regulations to board-game-style community workshops, new MacArthur Fellow Damon Rich uses design to make cities more democratic.
The MacArthur Foundation recently announced its list of 2017 fellows—24 people from all walks of life who will receive $625,000 “genius” grants, as they’re often called. CityLab is running a series of short conversations with several of the winners.
The urban designer and planner Damon Rich has an old-school cell phone—a deliberate defense against being constantly bombarded by emails. When he got a call from an unfamiliar out-of-town number a couple of weeks ago, he didn’t answer it at first.