Ms. Persson, I liked your article as much as I love the design process.

I'm retired now, but I began designing in the 1970s and moved from industrial, or product design (computers and medical equipment) to environmental design (museums, exhibitions, theme parks, etc.) to specializing in rural land-use and development.

Back then, designers could draw, render, build working prototypes and finely detailed architectural models, and produce mechanical and architectural drawings necessary to bring an idea into reality. In business, we were indispensable.

In my experience in land-use, public opposition is the number one, biggest obstacle to the construction of affordable housing.

To overcome public opposition, we used the charrette process - which is exactly what you are describing here. Not only does the charrette process overcome public opposition, it often sparks a demand for even more affordable housing. In turn, the more affordable housing that gets built, the bigger the demand grows.

Charrettes provide stakeholders with all the tools and information necessary to design their own communities.

We used two facilitators, so one of us could draw at the same time people were talking. Today computer visualizations show stakeholders what their ideas would actually look like in real life.

In addition to the general public, land-use experts, urban planners, elected officials, and decision makers also participate - at the same time, in the same room. In this way, charrettes assure the public has all the information and tools they need to design their own communities.

When people arrive they are determined to protect zoning on their property, but quickly change their minds. Once they gets into the process of designing their community, the number one complaint is zoning. To overcome the zoning obstacle, we employ form-based codes.

The experts and planners return with plans, drawings, even models for charrette participants' approval, before adoption into the General Plan.

Obviously, I am just giving an overview. General Plans are complicated systems that can take two or three updates, to modernize. Since General Plans are only updated once every ten years, that translates to 20 - 30 years time.

Well, that's my two cents worth for the morning.