Participatory design approach in mapping creative economic potential: A case study of Bojongmalaka Village
Keywords:
Creative economy mapping, Participatory design approach, Community developmentAbstract
This study evaluates the application of a Participatory Design (PD) approach to map the creative economic potential of Bojongmalaka Village, a peri-urban community in Bandung Regency, during the 2025 calendar year. Funded by Telkom University, the research utilizes a qualitative framework—comprising in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and field observations—to identify latent creative assets and catalyze community agency. The findings reveal a robust foundation of traditional handicrafts (bamboo and loom weaving), performing arts, and culinary traditions, supported by a significant skill base where 60% of residents possess traditional craft expertise and 40% express strong interest in contemporary design. The significance of the participatory methodology is evidenced by a transformative shift in local ownership: 75% of participants reported a heightened sense of accountability for their local economy following the process. By moving beyond extractive data collection to a co-creation model, the study demonstrates that PD ensures higher data accuracy and fosters the long-term sustainability of economic outcomes. This approach bridges the critical gap between traditional heritage and modern market demands, transforming undocumented cultural capital into a structured driver of growth. This synthesis of community expertise and strategic mapping provides the necessary empirical foundation for the situational analysis and strategic imperatives that follow.
References
1. Makhaeva, J., Frauenberger, C., & Spiel, K. (2016). Creating creative spaces for co-designing with autistic children - The concept of a “Handlungsspielraum”. ACM International Conference Proceeding Series.
2. Frauenberger, C., Smith, R.C., Loi, D., Forlano, L., & Iversen, O.S. (2025). Emerging Technologies And Alternative Future. In Routledge International Handbook of Contemporary Participatory Design.
3. van der Velden, M., & Mörtberg, C. (2015). Participatory design and design for values. In Handbook of Ethics, Values, and Technological Design: Sources, Theory, Values and Application Domains.
4. Yu, J. (2025). Participatory Design revisited: framings, key features, and its boundary with co-design. CoDesign.
5. Guo, Y., & Hoe-Lian, D.G. (2014). “We want to hear your voice”: Power relations in participatory design. Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Information Technology: New Generations.
6. Tomasini Giannini, F., & Mulder, I. (2022). Towards a Power-Balanced Participatory Design Process. ACM International Conference Proceeding Series.
7. Ballard, E., Werner, K., & Priyadarshini, P. (2021). Boundary objects in translation: the role of language in participatory system dynamics modeling. System Dynamics Review, 37(4), 310-331.
8. Zeb, K., Lindsay, S., Shahid, S., & Jones, M. (2018). Verbal design: A participatory design approach with illiterate patient user groups. Proceedings of the 2018 on Designing Interactive Systems Conference 2018.
9. Gerritsen, S., Harré, S., Rees, D., Renker-Darby, A., Bartos, A. E., Waterlander, W. E., & Swinburn, B. (2020). Community group model building as a method for engaging participants and mobilising action in public health. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(10), 3457.
10. Hanchett Hanson, M., & Clapp, E.P. (2020). Participatory Creativity. In Manual of Evidence-Based Admitting Orders and Therapeutics.
11. Hanchett Hanson, M., & Clapp, E.P. (2016). Participatory creativity. In Reference Module in Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Psychology.
12. Mert, Z.G., & Stolarick, K. (2025). Asset-based creativity (ABC): an approach in cultural context for creativity-driven development, Turkish handicrafts case. Creative Industries Journal.
13. Suksikarn, J., & Suksikarn, R. (2025). Participatory Design for Sustainable Product Innovation of Banana Fiber in Thailand. International Journal of Design and Nature and Ecodynamics.
14. Prasetyo, A. (2020). The Role of Cultural Festivals in Local Economic Development. Publisher information not available in source.
15. Luusua, A., Ylipulli, J., Kalarikalayil Raju, D., & Rönkkö, E. (2023). Bridging Distances for Global Participation: Conducting and Theorizing Participatory Design and Research in Hybrid Contexts. Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings.
16. Udoewa, V. (2022). An introduction to radical participatory design: Decolonising participatory design processes. Design Science, 8.
Downloads
Published
Conference Proceedings Volume
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.