Urban design belongs to the professional fi elds where public welfare is of great concern. This means that common practice in urban design involves the various forms of the active participation of different actors and stakeholders, positioning it as a signifi cant segment in the professional ethos of urban designers. Hence, public participation is also one of the integral parts of higher education in contemporary urban design. Urban design curriculum usually has a few courses dedicated for participation as the core topic, while other courses indirectly touch it. Their practical side is often in the form of public audits, surveys, questionnaires, interviews, which students conduct as an on-site or online training with citizens, experts and/or stakeholders. The form of a workcamp, where students-volunteers work and live together with local community on a short-term basis and for a not-for-profi t cause, is rarer simply because it is more demanding to be included into formal higher education. However, such workcamps have many advantages related to learning about the participation process, such as democratic awareness, mutual understanding, increased independence, and self-reliance. This paper presents one building camp for students, organised within DANUrB+ INTERREG Project in Golubac, Serbia, in June 2022. The aim of the camp was to realise, materialise a small scale ‘design and build’ urban project which connects with the revealed underused local heritage or cultural potential, as a tangible implementation of an intangible potential. The paper intends to show how this process involved both students and the local community to jointly develop, design and build a smallscale public square in the Danube Riverfront of Golubac Town.

This paper focuses on the concept of more-than-human design, which involves the inclusion of non-human actors, such as technology and infrastructure, in the design process. Specifically, the paper examines the technology of the urban environment as infrastructure and its potential use in designing complex and dynamic urban spaces that cater to different types of users. The paper explores how environmental data can act as a bridge between humans and nature, promoting empathy towards more-than-human perspectives. It emphasizes the need to question the human-centric approach to design and to form new design practices that integrate different abilities and contextual significance of data. The aim is to establish interactions between humans, objects, and other things through design practices that recognize and integrate different abilities, both human and artificial while overcoming technological determinism that dominates many narratives. This is achieved by expanding design theory and methodology towards "more-than-human design." The paper presents a review of existing approaches and methods from various fields as new input in considering subjective parameters of urban experience and new design practices in line with "more-than-human design" paradigms. The paper illustrates the urban user experience through the example of pedestrian traffic in interchange systems. While subjective parameters of users can be shown through various surveys, the paper emphasizes the importance of visual perception in collecting spatial information and its connection with cognitive processes. Developing eye-tracking technologies is becoming increasingly popular in spatial cognition research. The paper proposes using visualization of eye-tracking data to create mental maps that help in the cognitive mapping of the urban pedestrian experience in complex processes. The processed results can be used as input for user interfaces and new design practices. Designers need to take the underpinning technology seriously before they can design with it.

The chapter examines the regeneration of urban riverfronts, highlighting their growing recognition as vital public spaces with significant ecological, social, and economic implications. Historically, riverfronts serving as ports in Europe transitioned from industrial zones to areas of urban renewal and cultural engagement, reflecting shifts towards sustainable development principles. Successful projects such as HafenCity in Hamburg and Tampere highlight the importance of diversity, public participation, and environmental sustainability. Conversely, controversial projects such as Zagreb’s Manhattan and Belgrade’s Waterfront (BW), which is the case study, reveal challenges like a lack of transparency, public exclusion, and prioritization of profit over community needs. Analysis of public perception surveys from 2018 and 2024 reveals growing engagement and approval for riverfront development in Belgrade, where the BW project increased usage and acceptance. The lessons learned emphasize the necessity of inclusive planning, transparency, and balancing private interests with public and environmental concerns. The case of Belgrade underscores systemic issues of governance, activism, and media influence. Overall, sustainable and participatory approaches are crucial for future riverfront development, ensuring these spaces serve diverse communities, respect historical legacies, and foster ecological resilience. The insights advocate for collaborative, transparent, and mixed-use strategies aligned with social and environmental sustainability.