Develop infrastructure and activities that connect people.
Now we’ll create another layer of meaning that can change your view of identity territories.
It’s ok to have some doubts about the previous step, it can be counterintuitive at first.
We refer to the areas where different identity territories meet as Soft Edges. They are not strict and straight borderlines; the territories overlap. Soft Edges or transition territories can be activated by organizing activities, which foster similar behaviour on either side of the border.
The importance of having a deep understanding of the place becomes obvious again. This involves grasping which activities can connect which behaviours and which ones are responsible for repelling certain behaviours. A good Soft Edge design depends on it.
Soft Edges are largely responsible for the coexistence of different cultures in a place that comprises more than one identity territory.
The basis of this is the idea that the closer I am to my home, the closer to the cultural behaviour I will be. As I move away from home, I open myself up to new identities, leading to unpredictable interaction between the original identity and the adopted one.
Remember:
- The smooth transition is a unifying element and not a conceptual wall. Spend the energy it takes to solve it in the best possible way.
- Just because a transition worked in one place does not mean it will in another. Behaviours in the cultural and subcultural sphere also vary from place to place.
