Broadway Malyan’s Director Monika Bik explains.
Whilst sophisticated planning tools exist today, engaging and communicating with the local audience is still both a challenge and a critical element of ensuring a positive outcome for a major project. Effective communication starts from understanding the culture and beliefs rooted in the local context.
Working across the globe from Calgary to Kuala Lumpur and from Dubai to Dar es Salaam, our team of masterplanners have come to understand the importance of finding communication techniques that are as accessible as they are compelling. Engaging stakeholders – and exciting them if possible – from the outset is the first step towards a shared dialogue that underpins a lasting and supported outcome.
The urban planning process typically incorporates the staging of regular workshops and presentations involving stakeholders and the local community with the aim of communicating the project’s scope. These sessions also help to further an understanding of local needs and aspirations.
The reality is that in this process of dialogue and exchange, concepts for the management of urban growth through densification can often be regarded as abstract. The choice of channels and tools to convey ideas to a group of busy politicians, a community focus group or stakeholder representatives is therefore critical. It is here that the humble Lego brick can become a very powerful device, making the difference between getting the message across or not.