Abstract
Although the role of design in participatory processes related to urban transformation has been extensively studied, most of the literature focuses on tools and methods to facilitate participation.
Studies that have analyzed the role that design can play after the conclusion of participatory processes to strengthen their impact, therefore, seem rare. This contribution aims to explore the legacy of participatory practices as a new field of inquiry for design and to investigate design itself not only as a discipline but as a methodological approach to research grounded in participatory contexts. The paper notes that too often, at the end of the participatory process, both policymakers and designers seem unaware of the importance of the knowledge produced through the process itself. This lack of awareness leads to the inability to systematize the legacy of completed processes and, among other things, forces subsequent initiatives to start from scratch, underlining an extractive logic towards citizens. The paper proposes treating these legacies as networks of trajectories, outcomes, and effects that constitute a wealth of knowledge. Legacy, therefore, should be analyzed, framed, and assembled to form part of the interpretative framework needed to counter the disruptive effects of neoliberalism. Within this research horizon, research-through-design is proposed as an operational paradigm capable of transforming analytically produced knowledge into situated, embedded-in-practice knowledge, thereby enabling its pragmatization. In doing so, design may extend its contribution to civic life beyond strengthening deliberative processes, assuming
a central role in addressing challenges confronting contemporary Western cities.