This document discusses how principles of urban planning can inform the design of social businesses. It argues that planning involves linking knowledge to action in the public domain to create socially rational outcomes, and that social media platforms aim to enable social transformation, making their designers planners. The document outlines lessons from urban planning like the roles individuals play in communities and how social comfort levels change as systems grow in scale and complexity. It suggests concepts like emergent paths, space vs. place, safe failure, and utopian visions can transfer to social business design.

1. What Urban Planning Can
Teach Us About Social
Business Design
Gordon Ross & Thomas Vander Wal
Enterprise 2.0 Conference :: Santa Clara, CA :: November 2011

2. Who is Thomas?

6. 2008

9. I
NY

10. 1960

34. Design
Genre Output
Symbolic
&
Visual
Communica9ons Typography
&
adver9sing,
books,
magazines,
film,
photography,
television,
computer
graphics,
visual
designs
for
websites
(domain
of
graphic
designers)
Material
Object Everyday
“products”:
clothing,
domes9c
objects,
tools,
instruments,
machinery,
vehicle
(domain
of
industrial
designers)
Ac9vi9es
and
Organized
Services Logis9cs,
opera9ons,
schedules,
bureaucracies,
cause
and
effect
systems
(domain
of
management,
process
engineers,
bureaucrats)
Complex
Systems
or
Environments
for
Buildings,
structures,
streets,
Living,
Working,
Playing,
and
Learning neighbourhoods,
towns,
ci<es
(domain
of
urban
planners,
architects,
systems
engineers)
Source: Wicked Problems in Design Thinking, Richard Buchanan; Margolin, V., & Buchanan, R. (1995). The Idea of Design. Cambridge: MIT Press

38. MARXISM TAYLORISM
(Karl) (Fred)

39. Planning is
the guidance
of future
action - John Forester

40. Planning is described as a
forward looking activity
that selects from the past
those elements that
are useful in analyzing existing
conditions and form a vantage
point of the future; - John Friedmann
the changes that are
thought to be desirable and
how they might be
brought about.

41. Planning attempts to link
scientific and technical
knowledge to actions in the
public domain.
Planning is concerned with
making decisions and - John Friedmann
informing actions in ways
that are socially rational.

42. KNOWLEDGE
ACTION
PUBLIC DOMAIN

43. KNOWLEDGE
ACTION
PUBLIC DOMAIN
SOCIETY

44. KNOWLEDGE
ACTION
PUBLIC DOMAIN
SOCIETY
SOCIAL BUSINESS

45. KNOWLEDGE
ACTION
SOCIAL BUSINESS

46. THE PITCH

47. the practice of
social
transformation
is planning

48. E2.0 / Social Biz is
about the social
transformation of
work

49. you are
planners*
*note: you just don’t know it yet

50. 1
MANIPULATIVE
KNOWLEDGE

51. 2
APPRECIATIVE
KNOWLEDGE

53. Social
Scaling

54. Scaling and Functionality
D A - Personal Use
B - Serendipity
C
People Participating
C - Mature Social
Tool
B D - Complex Social
System
A
# of Objects in System
InfoCloud Solutions, Inc. - 2011

55. Dave Snowden’s
Cynefin Framework

57. Physical Social
Scaling

58. Scaling of Human Settlements
D A - Hamlet
B - Village
C C - Town
# of People
B D - City
A
Land Size
InfoCloud Solutions, Inc. - 2011

59. Santana
Row

62. Lessons of Physical
Social Scaling

63. Cruise
Director /
Community
Leader

64. Social Roles
• Sharer • Contextualizer
• Lurker • Interloper
• Writer / Creator • Infovore
• Editor • Learner
• Curator • Monitor
• Connector • Councilor
• Synthesizer • Gossip
• Theorizer • Critic
• Mitigator • Expert
• Negotiator • Broadcaster /
Rebroadcaster

65. Simple :: Blocks

66. Complicated :: Grids

67. Complex :: Fractals

68. Social Comfort

69. Social Comfort
with People

70. Social Comfort
with Tools

71. Social Comfort
with Content

72. Paving Emergent Paths

73. SPACE vs
PLACE

74. SPACE =
GEOMETRY
PLACE =
EXPERIENCE

76. THE CITY IS
NOT A TREE

79. SAFE FAIL vs
FAIL SAFE

82. UTOPIAN
VISIONS OF
THE FUTURE

86. THE MAP IS NOT
THE TERRITORY
(aka MIND THE
PLATONIC FOLD)

90. Thank you!
Gordon Ross &
Thomas Vander Wal
@gordonr
@vanderwal