Abstract
As the world is immersed in multiple social (The Lancet Public Health, 2020, The Lancet Public Health, 5(9), e460), environmental (Allen et al., 2019, Global warming of 1.5°C. An IPCC special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change; Kolb et al., 2017, International Journal of Management Education, 15(2), 280–292; NPR Staff, 2019, Transcript: Greta Thunberg’s speech at the U.N. climate action summit; United Nations, 2020b, World social report 2020: Inequality in a rapidly changing world), and economic problems (World Bank, 2020, The Global Economic Outlook During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Changed World), humanity seems to be living on the edge. Multiple voices are calling for urgent change. In the field of business, the concept of consciousness has been proposed as key to such transformation (Mackey & Sisodia, 2013, Conscious capitalism: Liberating the heroic spirit of business, Harvard University Press; Marques, 2020, The Routledge companion to mindfulness at work, Taylor & Francis). In this chapter, the author describes this concept and three of the main elements of this stream of business literature and practice with the aim to advance consciousness in the professional exercise of urban and architectural design. The chapter will be divided into three parts. The first part and introduction to the chapter describes the context that led to the integration of consciousness with business. The second part presents the definition of consciousness and its application to business and discusses the pertinence of three of its elements, purpose, stakeholder engagement, and sustainability, to design in urbanism and architecture. The third part will offer some conclusions, highlighting the need for a multidisciplinary approach to finding solutions to pervasive societal problems.
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Molina, C. (2022). Towards Conscious Design and Urban Planning: Inspiration from Consciousness in Business. In: Giorgi, E., Cattaneo, T., Flores Herrera, A.M., Aceves Tarango, V.d.S. (eds) Design for Vulnerable Communities. The Urban Book Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-96866-3_7
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