DIVISUAL

DIVISUAL is a research group integrating research on citizen and actor dialogue with digital visualization, games, open data and other digital tools. The focus is on knowledge production related to transformation and management of urban environments and building stocks. We address social, cultural, spatial, institutional, technical and digital issues. Therefore, our scientific approach is transversal and incorporates contributions not only from design, architecture and planning but also from disciplines such as geography, engineering, sociology, and information and communication technologies (ICT). The research aims to increase capacity of all affected stakeholders to manage complex challenges by developing, applying and analyzing processes, methods and tools.

DIVISUAL has competence in urban planning and transformation, citizen and stakeholder dialogue, digital visualization, gaming, building stock modelling, GIS, and more.

DIVISUAL is involved in a wide set of collaborations with cities, municipalities, housing companies, real estate management, building companies and consultants, as well as with different civic groups and organizations. The research group is closely linked to Visual Arena Lindholmen and Visual Arena Research. There is also a well developed network for research collaboration in the ’million program’ housing area Hammarkullen, where there is collaboration with local actors in the public housing company Bostadsbolaget, the city district adminstration and the Swedish Union of Tenants. The collaboration link outreach activities with research and education, especially the master’s course Social inclusion for Sustainable Development, but also locally based Social Work students from University of Gothenburg. There is also collaboration with Urban Studies at Malmö University. Internationally, the group collaborates with researchers in Alicante, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Cape Town, Havana, Kisumu, London, Rotterdam and Zürich.

Some keywords outlining the research approach include: actor networks, building-stock modeling, citizen empowerment, collaborative mapping, co-production of urban knowledge, gentrification, management games, multicriteria decision aids, multi-stakeholder dialogue, planning processes, social inclusion, systems thinking, transition analysis, urban simulations, and visualization.