EngagingCities. Hester Street Collaborative: Empowering Young Residents to Shape Their Own Environment. If you’re walking through New York City’s Chinatown and spot an out-of-the-ordinary cart, you’ll be looking at one of Hester Street Collaborative’s latest projects devoted to using design as a tool for social change.
Hester Street Collaborative (HSC) based in Chinatown, works with local residents, particularly students, in transforming neglected public spaces in parks, schools, and affordable housing developments through a “design-build” process which allows stakeholders to play a hands-on role. In a recent interview with Grist.org, Dylan House, project manager at HSC explained how his background as an architect led to his interest in urban planning issues and examining how communities can impact their personal environments.