Urban Studies and Planning Commons^™

Looking At Participatory Planning In Cuba… Through An Art Deco Window, Marie Kennedy, Lorna Rivera, Chris Tilly

Women’s and Gender Studies Faculty Publication Series

Last January we sat with about thirty Cubans in a community arts center in Boyeros, on the outskirts of Havana, Cuba. The group included artists, teachers, social workers, government officials, architects, engineers and health professionals, all working in Boyeros. We were leading a three-day participatory planning workshop to help this group identify ways that the 1930s Art Deco arts center, currently under renovation, could be used to spark broader community development. As the first day drew to a close, we felt good about the day’s work. We had turned the Cubans loose in a small group exercise that used art …