Future Scenarios for the Pampulha Region: A Geodesign Workshop

The paper describes the processes, workflow and results of a Geodesign workshop held by the authors in Belo Horizonte, Brazil in 2015. The participants were involved in the design of sustainable future alternatives for the urban district of Pampulha – an area characterized by complex conflicting interests concerning both development and landscape preservation. The scenarios were created on the basis of set objectives and priorities by six stakeholder groups, and assessed on the basis of ten evaluation systems. During the workshop, the use of a collaborative design support system (Geodesign Hub) facilitated the creation of design proposals informed by geographic context operatively enabling the application of the Steinitz’ Geodesign framework. The integration of information technologies in the planning process enabled the collaboration between the various actors involved simplifying the interactive scenario impact simulation and decision-making through real time performance analysis and quick negotiation cycles. Overall the Geodesign framework application with the Geodesign Hub platform proved to be a successful novel approach enabling to address some of the major traditional planning issues such as collaboration and negotiation in design and decision-making.