Belinda Tato and Jose Luis Vallejo are the Co-Founders and Directors of Ecosistema Urbano, a design and consulting company founded in 2000 operating within the fields of urbanism, architecture, engineering, and sociology. Ecosistema Urbano defines their approach as urban social design, understanding the design of environments, spaces, and dynamics in order to improve the self-organization of citizens, social interaction within communities, and their relationship with the environment.

In this podcast, Belinda Tato and Jose Luis Vallejo explore the question of ‘how can we engage the citizens into the design making process and into the decision-making process?’ Delving into the challenge of designers to engage in a conversation with the public, they envision the autonomous city as composed of empowered active citizens in charge of their own future. The transition from our current city to the autonomous city leads designers to look into both worlds of reality and utopia, addressing real challenges while aiming at ambitious projects.

#NFFStories is a series of podcasts produced by the Norman Foster Foundation that aims to empower our community to make positive change. A new platform for people around the world to share and hear inspirational stories and ideas that are going to shape the future.

www.normanfosterfoundation.org