Van Eeden, Jeanne2026-01-202026-01-202019-02-092019-02-21*A2019http://hdl.handle.net/2263/107426PhD ThesisOwing to the ubiquity of design in contemporary culture, there is a!proliferation!of!new!roles!for! design!especially!within!the!context!of!design!for!the!common!good;!one!such!example!includes! design!activism,!which!aims!to!instil!and!enable social,!environmental!and!political!agency!among! citizens.!However,!unlike!design!activism,!design!citizenship!is!a!new!concept!that!lacks!a!concrete! theoretical!framework.!Accordingly,!this!thesis!uses!a!constructivist!grounded!theory!methodology! to!present!a!substantive!theory!of!design!citizenship by!exploring!the!relationship!between!design! activism!and!citizenship in!South!Africa.!For!data!generation!purposes,!the!fieldwork!comprised!an! analysis!of!design!interventions!that!addressed!pertinent!social!issues!faced!by!citizens!in!two!cities,! namely Pretoria!and!Cape!Town.!To!this!end,!openHended!interviews!were!held!with!the!research! participants,!who!included!participants,!facilitators!and!sponsors!(corporate!and!nonHcorporate)!of!a! sample!of!design!interventions.!The!empirical!evidence!generated!through!the!grounded!theory! process!points!towards!a!YHshaped!model!of!design!citizenship!that!situates!the!social!phenomenon! of!design!citizenship!at!the!intersection!of!design!activism!and!critical!citizenship,!and!thereby! suggests!the!causal!relationship between!the!two.!The!model!comprises!three!overarching! processes, namely awakening awareness, igniting agency and sustaining a design thinking impetus. The disruptive and transformative!nature!of!design!citizenship,!facilitated!by!these!three!processes! over a sustained!period!of!time, suggests that design provides!common!ground for citizens which in turn affords them with an opportunity to move from being merely empowered to being emancipateden© 2024 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.UCTDDesign activismCritical citizenshipDesign citizenshipDesign thinkingConstructivist grounded theoryDesign interventionsDesign for the common goodSocial innovationDisruptive aestheticsPlayAesthetic educationDesign researchThesisu04236874N/A