5 Transition design as a strategy for addressing urban wicked problems Gideon Kossof and Terry Irwin Introduction An increasingly high proportion of the world’s population now lives in cities (Barber 2013; Rockefeller Foundation 2019; Glaeser 2011) which are confront- ing a wide range of challenges known as wicked problems (Irwin 2011a, 2011b; Australian Public Service Commission 2007; Coyne 2005; Buchanan 1992; Rit- tel & Webber 1973). Problems such as climate change, drought, obesity, poverty, racism, waste management, homelessness, crime and loss of biodiversity are sys- tems problems that require a systemic response (Rockefeller Foundation 2019). At the level of the city, problems like these become even more complex because they are interrelated, interdependent and affect increasing numbers of people. Conversely, cities are “places of innovation” (ibid, p. 7) and are well posi- tioned to ignite systems-level change by disseminating and sharing innovations with one another. Civic and governmental leaders are often highly motivated to direct significant amounts of social, economic and political power towards wicked problem resolution (Barber 2013; Katz & Nowak 2017) because they suffer the effects of wicked problems directly. This chapter will argue that because these complex, wicked problems cannot be resolved by a single group, department or area of expertise, radical collaboration among diverse sectors and the stakehold- ers affected by the problem will be necessary to resolve them. Transition design is an emerging, design-led approach 1 for addressing these complex, wicked problems and seeding and catalyzing societal transitions toward more sustainable and desirable long-term futures. This chapter argues that transition design can be a useful, transdisciplinary approach for the developing ecologies of solutions at multiple levels of scale (the region, the city, the neighborhood and the household) (Kossoff 2011, 2019a). Transition design is an approach that could be used by municipalities, city-based organizations (in business, health care, education and the arts) and grassroots community groups to collectively and collaboratively address the wicked prob- lems that they face. Characteristics of wicked problems In the latter half of the 20th century, urban planner Horst Rittel coined the term “wicked problem” to describe a class of problem that was deemed “unsolvable” Cities Without Capitalism, edited by Hossein Sadri, and Senem Zeybekoglu, Taylor & Francis Group, 2021. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/cm/detail.action?docID=6635880. Created from cm on 2022-08-28 14:49:14. Copyright © 2021. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved.