We are developing a project, piloted in Harlem, that creates a platform for residents and local artists to identify and investigate urban conditions that impact their everyday life. The key component of this tool, the Urban Atlas Kit, utilizes existing and resident made creative methods and tactics to conduct urban investigations in their respective neighborhoods. Our goal is to facilitate ways in which
discourse and imaginaries around urban development are explored by the people directly affected by change. Our vision is to build a method of investigating, understanding and imagining the urban environment that can inspire a movement focused on resident empowerment around urban development.

By Sabrina Dorsainvil and Luisa Múnera

May 2014