Interpretive Flexibility as an Approach to Designing Inclusive Urban Space: Learning from Medellín and Beirut

In this article, we examine how urban design can promote inclusion by simultaneously accommodating multipleexpressions of interests and identities and providing common ground for interaction between different social andcultural groups. Borrowing from science and technology studies, we use the concept of ‘interpretive flexibility’, whichrecognises multiple and incongruent perspectives as a resource in design and extend this by drawing on the architec-tural notion of ‘generality’, which supports the ability of a design to accommodate change in usage without a changein its properties. We illustrate the potential of interpretive flexibility as an approach to designing inclusive urban spacewith a comparative case study of Medellín, Colombia and Beirut, Lebanon. This approach treats architectural consid-erations about materials and form as an integral part of planning interventions for social change. In discussing thisapproach, we identify key insights from our cases and their relevance for Nordic and other urban contexts.