Design as prompt: experiments in pluriversal politics and southern urban practice

Anu Sabhlok, Jitesh Malik, Shilpa Dahake, Kanchan Gandhi, Apoorva Sharma, Shailja Singla, Abhijeet Kaplish, Nitin Mandhan, Richa Dhiman and Sajal Lakhera

City, 2025, vol. 29, issue 3-4, 628-638

Abstract: One of the first steps towards decolonizing urban design practice is to make space within planning and design discourse for multiple voices. This paper is a reflection on one such experiment in urban design intervention in Abohar. Abohar, a small border town in Punjab was tagged the third dirtiest city (of its size) in India in 2020. Around the same time, the old water works situated in the center of the town was decommissioned, thereby opening up land in the center of the city. Drawing upon notions of situated urban practice embedded in frameworks that aspire towards a pluriversal politics, we conceptualized a pedagogical studio that would engage with Abohar. In this paper, we discuss our experience of collaboratively working towards the ‘design’ of a city center in the town of Abohar. The paper argues that translating pluriversal thinking into pluriversal design practice requires an ontological shift. In this way of thinking and doing, a propositional mindset is essential and design needs to be understood as a prompt rather than as a finalized solution.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1080/13604813.2025.2506324

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