Building Social? More like Designing to Afford Contestation

This paper discusses some of the urban impossibilities of ‘building social’, and reveals insights gathered through efforts to afford productive spatial contestation and agonistic practices. Three design led case studies are discussed. The first emerging with Spain’s national institute for sport across 30 sites in Barcelona, the second located at the ‘undercroft’ of London’s Southbank Centre and the third, operating between the social and physical spaces occupied by the Graffiti Dialogues Network, hosted at the University of the Arts London. All exemplify arguments that spatial democracy and ‘improvement’ is tricky. Also that design-led practice and research activities can aid socio-spatial conflict mitigation, by finding, and by designing-in, new spatial opportunities for agonistic contestation.