The Empathic Habitat From “Practical Wisdom’ (Schwartz; Sharpe, 2011):
Noun - Empathy - Empathy involves both cognitive skills - the ability to perceive the situation as it is perceived by another - and emotional skills - the capacity to understand what another person is feeling.
This proposal describes a network protocol to envisage the self-sufficient Wetering district in Amsterdam. A 17th century extension of the city, placed between the more famous Canal district and the ‘Jordaan’ area. The proposal is based on empirical evidence gathered by surveying and interviewing the inhabitants of the district. They define a self-sufficient habitat as a perceivable, an understandable and
HOTEL
a modifiable space. Self-sufficientness to them is a mind-set
Local heritage expert
Metro
rather than an objectively observable phenomenon.
M
To map this self-sufficient mind-set, we plotted a network of empathic connections. Questioning the stakeholders of the neighbourhood (inhabitants
Parking spots
and professional affiliates) how they perceive Social rental neighbours subcommunity - 7.2% of district occupants*
policy maker
and understand other local social and physical actors.
Water
Empathy is defined by the members of the Wetering community as the social glue,
Local real estate agent
essential to creating a self-sufficient Private rental subcommunity - 53,8% of district occupants*
Government institutions subcommunity
Reallocating a neighbourhood landmark
habitat. The group of inhabitants take the responsibility to change Wetering district into a sustainable self-sufficient community (www.weteringverbetering.nl). To them living together means more then
Balcony
Solar panel rooftops
only taking care of the self. It requires a broad range of skills, from caring for other
South facing roofs
people and having a desire to help them,
small private backyards
to blurring the line between the self and the
local waste pick up points
other.
tourists
(unknown people)
The self-sufficient habitat is a mind-set,
Refurbishing a Monument
a set of conceptual categories, frames and
FRAMEWORK: the empathic network of the Wetering district
narratives, from which the inhabitants are able to fully empathize with their surroundings. * O+S ams, 2012
Home owners subcommunity - 39% of district occupants*
The network protocol maps the architecture of empathic connections and the spatial attributes of the Wetering district. It aims to provide an elegant
THE MASHUP The location of physical actors (left) and the distinction of communities inside the network (boxes). THE NETWORK The network assembles the situational empathic connections between the actors (social and physical) of the Wetering District (Zhou; Valiente; Eisenberg, 2003).
organisation from which a number of layers (changes, nudges and incentives) can be formulated. These then can be used by the Wetering community to develop their unique self-sufficient habitat. The framework uses a social network analysis (from a techno-sociological point of view) to see how actors are located inside the network and how they are valued by others. This gives the grassroots organisation the possibility (aided by architects) to recalibrate the ‘flows of relations’ in the network; either by implementing new frames and narratives, or by probing new devices (e.g. connecting ‘things’ to the internet) in the actual spatial district. Because of the network these changes
Survey:
are now traceable over time and can be monitored to see if they strengthen or weaken the overall self-sufficientness
Situational empathy is measured by asking respondents about their experiences
of the network.
when certain situations occur. The questionnaire was broken down into three variables. 1) do you know what the actor does? 2) do you understand why the actor does so? and 3) what do you feel when the actor does so? This way - in a non-scientific manner - both cognitive and emotional attributes are registered with on a LIKERT-type scale. (E.g. Strongly disagree/Disagree/Neither agreenor disagree/Agree/)Strongly agree) Graph visualization and analysis:
The Wetering Community The grassroots organisation of the Wetering district expresses this recalibrating in more practical terms. They aim to fight negative frames such as loneliness, stability, dependency and “theme-parkness” within a broad empathic narrative: “We are facing individualism in an excessive fashion, we have to reverse this process - this can only be done if we get the
The instrument is scored on a scale of 0 (being the least empathetic possible)
freedom to take responsibility for our own surroundings. Doing what wé find important, together. Your own life is not your
to 100 (being the most empathetic possible). In a network society, in/
individual life, your life is embedded in the whole of your environment in which you live” (translated).
exclusion depends on the accessibility of actors to the value within the network (Castells, 2009). When empathy is the driving value, the In-or-Out attribute is measured by low target connections on Q1. Furthermore empathic connections are weighted; values between 0-50 distract nodes, values between 50-100 contract nodes. Sample size: 255 nodes and 6015 of 42567 edges Survey period: 1 April 2013 - 15 May 2013 Type: Online and Offline surveying Average degree: 23 Type of edges: directed Clustering coefficient: 0.166 (low) Nonresponse rate: 45% Reliability: high Validity: low
The agenda they proclaim is primarily based on sustainability incentives and range from refurbishing their own private houses to collecting local waste and changing public parking spaces into small city farms. This way they try to strengthen the empathic connections in the network by forwarding a biosphere consciousness between inhabitants (Rifkin, 2011). But at the same time they als would like to become a self-directed neighbourhood. This means they break the connections with the government subcommunity because, as they express: “do not longer trust how government decides over our heads.” Our involvement To better understand the relationships between professionals and inhabitants, we have also conducted interviews with liaison architects, urban planners and other civil servants from the city of Amsterdam. We choose to formulate our own agenda regarding the self-directed topic, strengthening ties between professionals and citizens instead of breaking them. Trust to us is an act of opening up; it is a mutual relationship of transparency and sharing. The more you control, the less you will be trusted (Jarvis, 2009). This way we can propose a number of changes and devices that reverse the present separation of the government with the citizen communities in the empathic network of the Wetering district in Amsterdam. The Empathic Habitat - A Network Protocol - Carst Abma Arquitecto M.A BBE © 2013
the network protocol
THE FRAMEWORK - network analysis of the EMPATHIC NETWORK (see page 1) Propinquity: do
.8 .6
a
.4
individual social actors
ISSUE ANALYSIS: To improve accessibility, the government and
ISSUE ANALYSIS: To improve stability, the number of nodes with
community should be geographically nearer to the other communities.
the private renter communities should be less ‘close’ to each
multiple ties should be increased.
empathic network.
MEASURE: Betweenness centrality (the number of times a social node
the tendency for people to form relationships with those whom they often geographically encounter.
acts as a bridge between two other social nodes) shows six nodes act MEASURE: The global clustering coefficient is
Neighbourhood Identity: what
brings cohesion?
10
40
2.0
8
30
2.1
6
20
4
10
2
5
the scale of empathy (LINE CHART)
(closeness centrality)
importance for cohesion
represents identity for individual social actors?
2.2 2.3
the Walloon orphanage
0
‘private’ spaces interior spaces
real estate agent
private owners
skin
immediate surroundings exterior spaces
0
the rest of the neighbourhood (ranked on closeness L-R)
neighbor neighbor shops house garden/balc. (sport city gym)
institution squares other objects water (walloon orphanage) and streets (streetlights)
the total number of connections (BAR CHART)
Service coherence: who 1.9
2.5
social renters
as bridge. When they will leave, the network will be severely damaged.
measured by
2.4
private renters
0
average
ISSUE ANALYSIS: To increase perceivability, the government
MEASURE: The propinquity effect is a social psychological measure of
process. Although classes are fixed, each class layer can differ.
30
other. Instead form different ties and embed in other groups in the
layers; each class in the protocol solves a specific part of the
communities:
40
10
0
layering scheme consists of a number of fixed functional class
a: physical actors
agitator of the Wetering community real estate agents
50
20
.2
receive data. A protocol is organised as a layer scheme. The
u: universe
number of ‘bridges’
u
as frameworks to provide users access and control to send and
(as an application layer) or interfaces (as a presentation layer).
60
1
In computational sciences, network protocols are described
This for example makes it possible to use different applications
Stability: how robust is the network?
Clustering: who knits together?
spatial aspects matter?
general appearance
ISSUE ANALYSIS: Cohesion of empathic network is primarily
ISSUE ANALYSIS: To empathice with surrounding actors it is important to understand and perceive identity within the network. What are social
governmental
represented by food and counter services and representational
actors valueing and why is that important to them? This foremost emotional skill is important to distinct the positions of social actors in the
buildings.
network. The above graph defines the empathic values of social actors in relation to the physical actors in the Wetering district. The graph for
The empathic habitat network protocol follows the same
MEASURES: ‘Farness’ represents the shortest path between nodes.
They value the general appearance of the Wetering district (a mix of monumental dutch classistic/ renaissance and neo-dutch renaissance
E.g. the more central the node, the shorter the average path. This
buildings). Furthermore social rentees value outdoor spaces, but do not have a connection to them. And private owners - although they often live
means then the more coherence the node attributes to the empathic
next to the channels - do not value the famous waterways of Amsterdam .
control and access. It can be implemented with different layers to probe the succesibility of the layer. But instead of a application, network or presentation layers, the layer classes are distinguished as perceiving, understanding and modifying
value of the district. Thereafter, Closeness centrality is measured as the inverse of farness.
Trust: how much understanding actors have?
layerclasses. Each class represents a methodological change because it glues, connects or re-calibrates the network nodes and edges.
•
60
9
3
7
next door
6
2
5 15
New awareness devices (physical actors) to ‘glue’ network groups, helping social actors to better perceive each other.
13
same district
3 2
1 11
9
5
3 1
architectural planning commission (welstand)
1
7
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
same street
40
collective thinkers
30
rs owne ivate ge pr avera
20 10
individual thinkers
0 0
3 6 eigenvector centrality
9
ISSUE ANALYSIS: Private renters generally have a few ‘close
ISSUE ANALYSIS: To improve extended ownership (collective
communities to score low on highly valued empathic connections. To
friends.’ Social renters on the contrary have more connections
responsibility taking), both private rentees and owners should be
feel more self-sufficient, these groups should be tied into the network.
to ‘next door’ neighbours, but lack other district connections.
encouraged to build more collective ties. Instead of being ‘materialistic,’
For example by becoming more transparant (i.e. civil servants should
Private owners have few friends overall, but these are scattered
they should be nudged to value non proprietal actors such as caring for
let citizens have more control to decision making processes) and - in
over the three categories.
the public space, caring for the wellbeing of neighbours.
to-day processes of the Wetering neighbourhood.
MEASURE: The degree centrality (the overall number of ties in the MEASURE: the number of ties there are between neighbours,
network) compared to the eigenvector centrality. (eigenvector
depending on the distance (next door, in the same street, in the
centrality is measured by dividing the higher relative score non-equal
same district).
ties to ‘friendly’ ties such as fellow household members or privately owned property).
layer class: Understanding New stories and frames to connect network-flows. To help people better understand why others act the way
THE FRAMEWORK - spatial analysis of the SPATIAL DISTRICT
+
they do.
N layer class: Modifying •
South facing roofs
New devices to probe different nudges and incentives. Testing if the empathic values of neighbourhoods can be
Balcony
+
increased by recalibrating the network.
-
the empathic network
the spatial district
perceiving layer
Wetering District
M
understanding layer
modifying layer
the framework
12
ISSUE ANALYSIS: The graph shows the governmental and private rental
the case of private renters - showing more involvement with the day-
•
agitator of the Wetering community
50
4
neighbourhood watch
8
4
layer class: Perceiving
Extended ownership: who takes responsibility?
10 average empathy rank
in the empathic network. Changing the shape of the network
Local desolation: how lonely is the district?
degree centrality
organizing principles: it provides a framework for users to
example shows private rentees to have little proprietal identity to their own spaces, except to their outdoor spaces (often balconnies or portals).
Amsterdam Center literature: Castells, M. (2009). Communication Power, Oxford University Press, New York Jarvis, J. (2009). What Would Google Do, Harpin Collings Publishers, New York Rifkin, J. (2011). The Third Industrial Revolution, How lateral power is transforming energy, the economy, and the world. Palgrave McMillan, New York. Schwartz, B. Sharpe, K. (2011). Practical Wisdom; the right way to do the right thing, Riverhead Publishers, New York Zhou, Q., Valiente, C., & Eisenberg, N. (2003). Empathy and its measurement. Washington DC: American Psychological Association. The Empathic Habitat - A Network Protocol - Carst Abma Arquitecto M.A BBE © 2013
Issues
Changes/incentives/devices
Class
Network flow
Spatial impact
A number of network layers to increase the self-sufficientness of the Wetering District, based on the issues forwarded by the data analysis of the empathic network (see page 2):
(2) Implement
cohesive functions, new local bars, convenience and specialty shops. (closeness centr.)
Amsterdam builds a new metro line. The Vijzelgracht station is located 16 meter below the surface, right next to the Wetering District. Government wants to ‘fill’ the empty space with parking spots. The Wetering community instead proposes a green park with local food shops. New shops will create uplift in the number of high empathic connections in the neighbourhood. Maartje Romme (pioneer of the Wetering Community) forecasts: “the green park and local food will create unity; it is an example of a pleasant way of living.”
(3) Cooperate with
local real estate agents, to function as a bridge between government and citizens. (closeness centr.)
(4) Let social renters use local gardens. (identity)
(5) Give private
home owners the responsibility for their own front door channel wall. (identity)
(6) Let citizens have more access to local decision making processes. (trust / betweenness centrality)
Brokers - instead of occasional mediators with big commissions - could become the inclusive agents for the Wetering district. Acting as a service for neighbours, setting up a ‘craigslist’ type web based platform. With e.g.: area attractions, aerial views, video tours and property webpages. Agents become an informal colleague (bonding and bridging both citizens and civil servants). Agent 2.0 is chosen on the basis of ‘kudos’ and ‘likes’ (Jarvis, 2009). In the Wetering district, social renters do not have private gardens, but do highly value local outdoor spaces. At the same time many private house owners do not use their fenced gardens. The Wetering community started a project to ask owners to remove these fences. Uniting the inner courtyards, and using them as city farms for both the private owner and other sub communities.
+
HOTEL
-
modify
Neighbours express their lack of trust in government; “suddenly we see they torned up the street, we don’t know what the ‘multi-headed monster’ is plotting for now”. The empathic network registrates this “obscureness,” visualizing scarce links between both communities. Stephanie van der Wiel (program assistant, spatial planning department) says: “We officials should be a ‘service hatch,’ since what many departments and councils do is invisible and non-transparent. We should understand citizens are insecure about their ideas, we should support them, join their conversation, be a service and be open-sourced.”
department of building permits
Frame: RESPOND TO THE WISHES OF CITIZENS NOW
-
modify
P
M
Parking garage
Open space between Metrostation and streetlevel
district planning department
Local farm, eco shops, sporting facilities, tea garden
civil servant
Houses to be refurbished
understand
Local Real Estate agent
(Jarvis, 2009)
private owner
Backyards
private owner
remove garden fences
Channel wall
district department of “clean and damaged”
Tourists
Tourboat
Channel water
Destination traffic
Tourists
Leisure boat
‘Theme-park’ neighbourhood
private owner
Local food production
(local desolation)
(8) Share public
responsibility, expanding the core group of involved multi-linked neighbours. (stability)
One way of increasing stability is to share the responsibility for a collective technology. The Wetering community has - as a part of their refurbish private houses initiative - proposed a scalable geo-thermal heat pump: It has plans to install a central located system, distracting ground water from one source, extracting the heat/ cold and reintroducing it into another source - switching direction between summer/winter conditions. House owners and renters can connect to this system, taking up a shared responsibility for the installation of warm and cold tap water - and the sustainable use of it.
social rentee
perceive
department of water maintenance.
district environment Commission
understand
Trees and bushes
Slope
Local food production
Z
South facing roofs
perceive
Installing Solar Panels
random civil servant
district environment management
council committee; construction, housing and climate
district services; custom permissions
Permission to place solar panels
N
Map where the public can install solar panels
Cities’ Waste to Energy company
perceive
national hygiene laws and regulations for collecting waste.
district waste collecting department
changing route
Smartphone
Probing time
Citizen collecting of local waste
A local farm
Visiting and checking for “cleanness”
private Owner
Recycling local waste
signal
Smartphone
+
renters to meet their next door neighbours.
To increase empathy between neighbours we propose to use the semi-private outdoor spaces (balconies, porches) as a nudge design. The network analysis shows this physical actor is highly valued (as an identity tool). We propose to build an smartphone to let neighbours perceive each other online. The balcony tweets when it is used, for how long and for what cause (sunbathing, partying, etc.). Neighbours can connect online which is communicated offline by bridging the gap by laser lights (creating a lightbridge between balconies). Other neighbours perceive these connections and are stimulated to get involved too. You don’t want to be leaved behind.
civil servant
private owner
private rentee
Balcony
Connecter
Balcony
private rentee
understand
other neighbours
boiler
water usage
Private house
boiler
water usage
Private house
Collective Geo-thermal installation
private owner
boiler
water usage
Rental house
landlord
private rentee
private owner
+
(7) Encourage private
municipal development plan
Frame: PLAN RATIONALLY, PLAN SUSTAINABLE.
“Citizens have unconventional ideas and want to do act - we should try out, test and be open to these initiatives” says Nico Karsijns, senior environment coordinator at the district council government. So when we proposed to let the Wetering neighbours collect and distribute the districts’ garbage (something the community has opted for). He said; “why not? Let’s try.” But the more he thought about, the more doubts he had: “what about the strict hygienic regulations, or the collecting route, the waste department has to change. “But we should probe it, visit the neighbourhood with stakeholders from the city departments and see if it works or not”.
municipal development plan
Frame: SUSTAINABLE GROWTH
working spaces, meeting rooms, rentees that ‘represent’ the Wetering district.
The average private home owner does not empathize with the water channels around their house. This is because they frame the water as “touristy”, the waterways are barely used by local inhabitants. To grow the sustainability frame, the Wetering community wishes to start food production facilities at parking spots next to the water. To extend this idea, we propose to turn the walls into green slopes - planting helophyte plants to clean the channel waters - and make water a common responsibility, uniting the neighbours and neighbourhoods of Amsterdam.
Luxurious Hotel
Reallocate the walloon orphanage
+
(propinquity)
In this scenario, the district governments’ officers can work ‘on-site,’ using parts of the empty offices. Stephanie van de Wiel (program assistant ‘climate and energy of the cities’ Spatial Planning Department): “The new civil servants, let’s call them 2.0, should encourage cooperation with citizens in a ‘roll-playing’ based processes.”
Frame: ECONOMIC SCALABILITY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE
+
government sub community geographically to the neighbourhood.
The Walloon Orphanage building (Maison Descartes) has to be reallocated. Instead of a luxury hotel, the Wetering community proposed to use the building as an incubator for small local entrepreneurs.
+
(1) ‘Glue’ the
-
modify
The Empathic Habitat - A Network Protocol - Carst Abma Arquitecto M.A BBE © 2013
Local food production