Over the years, unchecked effects of gentrification have forced Boston Chinatown into crisis, pushing outsiders into a shallow view of Chinatown as a cheap and dirty grub hub. Wealthy newcomers are buying up real estate around the area, dramatically inflating living expenses without government intervention. Residents of Chinatown feel tension on all fronts in their daily lives.
For a studio course focused on Urban Interactions, my partner and I worked with the Asian Community Development Corporation (ACDC) and Boston Mayor’s Office of the New Urban Mechanics (MONUM) to come up with potential interventions.
Our final proposal is a long-term storytelling campaign that ultimately unifies the people of Chinatown with a unique voice to represent and validate their importance as a community.
To reach the diverse audience in Chinatown, we proposed multiple methods of engagement. Trained journalists and writing workshops would gather stories and help curate them. These stories would then be applied to the billboards, news app, and zine in varying depths for each mode. This would be the new initiative for ACDC’s Community Organizing & Civic Engagement program, while MONUM would monitor the progress of this bottom-up community engagement approach.
Our process began with:
“What is the symbol of Chinatown?”
“What is the symbol of Chinatown?”
When we asked this same question to a woman from the Residents Workshop with ACDC, she answered, “I don’t really know, but when the people of Chinatown move away, so does the culture and feeling of home.” From that, we realized that the people of Chinatown are the most important part. How could we help the residents stay and have a rewarding time in their neighborhood?
Major Cultural Barriers
Our first effort to conduct design research through conversation and a Cultural Probe was a flop. Issues of personal privacy, language barriers, and most importantly, the concept of the image of self to others, hindered our ability to fully understand our audience. It was impractical for us to try and engage with older residents who were not fluent in English, so instead we focused on bridging the connection between residents and non-residents.
Our first effort to conduct design research through conversation and a Cultural Probe was a flop. Issues of personal privacy, language barriers, and most importantly, the concept of the image of self to others, hindered our ability to fully understand our audience. It was impractical for us to try and engage with older residents who were not fluent in English, so instead we focused on bridging the connection between residents and non-residents.
Fictional Storytelling Workshop
To engage with the younger generation in Chinatown, we held a creative workshop with the Asian Voices of Organized Youth for Community Empowerment (A-VOYCE). Students paired up and role-played as imaginary characters in a futuristic city, generating dialogue about their life. Despite the far-fetched setting, significant aspects of the writers’ identities still passed on: one character worried about financial security, and another’s family was “from another planet,” parallel to the immigrant experience in America.
To engage with the younger generation in Chinatown, we held a creative workshop with the Asian Voices of Organized Youth for Community Empowerment (A-VOYCE). Students paired up and role-played as imaginary characters in a futuristic city, generating dialogue about their life. Despite the far-fetched setting, significant aspects of the writers’ identities still passed on: one character worried about financial security, and another’s family was “from another planet,” parallel to the immigrant experience in America.
From this, we learned that storytelling was powerful, not only to convey messages, but also to learn about people.
Photos in mockups courtesy of: http://chinatownpretty.com/
We originally started this project with a tech-focused mindset with AR and chatbots. As we progressed, we realized that high tech isn’t necessary for our scope and goals. While digital overlays and anonymous communication have massive opportunities for innovation, it is not the first step to solving displacement in low-income communities that have been exoticized and ostracized throughout history.
Realistically, it’s about the people, building relationships, and opening up dialogue for everyone to create a shared understanding of community. This is why we proposed
person-to-person initiatives that would generate a more human experience.
person-to-person initiatives that would generate a more human experience.
It is important to note that it was incredibly difficult for us, as both students and "non-residents," to insert ourselves into the Chinatown community to understand their real needs. But while our proposal is broad, it speaks to one of the core problems of gentrification in any space.
