Project Lead
Architecture and Built Environment
Email: cheng.s.goh@northumbria.ac.uk
Project Themes
There is a growing need to engage communities in the co-planning and co-design of sustainable, resilient urban spaces where people can live, work, and play. However, current sustainability frameworks often lack a clear roadmap for proactive user involvement. This project seeks to bridge that gap by developing multisensory interactions that enhance the sensory and experiential dimensions of sustainable urban spaces.
Focusing on two distinct cities with contrasting sensory experiences, the project will explore sustainable futures through cross-cultural collaboration. Cuenca, Spain, with its multicultural heritage and iconic ‘hanging houses,’ evokes a sense of place rooted in natural landscapes, characterized by stone façades, narrow streets, and echoes from surrounding cliffs. It is considered a biosecure and ecofriendly destination. Newcastle, UK, known for its industrial history and vibrant cultural life, presents a dynamic urban environment defined by steel and brick textures, modern public spaces, and a soundscape that merges historic and contemporary elements. This contrast will highlight how heritage-focused and innovation-driven approaches can inspire sustainable, multisensory urban futures for cities with different locality.
Through cross-cultural exchange, the project will leverage tangible, sensory design tools to deepen understanding of these cities. A participatory workshop or focus group will be held at Northumbria University to co-create and co-design multi-sensory sustainable futures for different cities. Spatial and sensory dimensions of Newcastle and Cuenca will be collected for the deployment of the UX tools during the workshop. The research team will visit Cuenca to examine physical contexts and identify urban dimensions and spatial dimensions in Cuenca. Similarly, the team will also explore specific contexts of Newcastle for enhancing the sustainability of the city.
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