Designing sustainable neighborhoods together: A novel mixed method approach integrating quantitative, co-creational and qualitative research

Urban densification offers significant potential for sustainable urban growth. For residents, however, it means disruption to daily life, changes in social structures and increased demands on land use and transportation infrastructure. Integrated urban planning must balance the goals of sustainable development with spatial constraints and individual mobility and livability requirements. Incorporating residents’ perspectives into the planning process is essential to addressing this challenge This article presents a mixed method participatory research design developed as part of a research project on the densification of post-war housing estates in the German Rhine-Main area. Combining quantitative, qualitative and co-creative techniques, the approach seeks to integrate residents’ perspectives on quality of life and mobility needs into a hypothetical densification design. The article outlines the methodological steps and discusses the approach’s strengths, challenges and potential transferability to other planning contexts.