Kampung Futuring(s) 

Children's Dreams, Dissent, and Decolonial Horizons

Imagined futures, those slippery yet potent visions of what may come to pass, are more than mere fantasy. They are lived realities, imbued with the power to shape our collective trajectories. As Jens Beckert (2016) reminds us, fictional expectations can become self-fulfilling prophecies, while Marius Borup and colleagues (2006) and Harro van Lente (1993) demonstrate that these futures can be studied, their contours traced and analyzed.

But imagined futures do more than simply exist – they also mobilise. Sheila Jasanoff's (2015) concept of sociotechnical imaginaries highlights the normative power of collectively held visions, institutionally stabilised and publicly performed. These desirable futures are not mere pipe dreams; they drive sociotechnical developments, channeling resources, expertise, and desire.

Futuring(s) as Speculative Practice

Urban futuring(s) involves speculative thinking, encouraging creative, critical exploration of possible futures. This is not prediction, but a process of collective imagination, where children's visions ignite possibilities for alternative worlds. In this project, urban futuring(s), as an approach, involves co-creating possible futures with diverse stakeholders, particularly children. 

1.⁠ ⁠Decenters adultism: Prioritises children's perspectives, challenging dominant narratives.

2.⁠ ⁠Pluralises urban knowledge: Recognizes diverse, situated knowledges and experiences.

3.⁠ ⁠Disrupts linear progress: Embraces messy, iterative, and relational dynamics.

Children's imaginations ignite possibilities for alternative futures. Through children's eyes, we witness future-making as an iterative, sensory, and relational process. Imagination, aspiration, anticipation, and enactment converge in the playful, artistic, and storytelling practices that bring their visions to life. These practices decentre adultism, prioritising young voices, desires, and imaginations in the co-creation of urban futures.

Kampung Plampitan 50 Years from Now

Through arts-based workshops, children from Kampung Plampitan shared their visions of their community 50 years into the future. Their imaginations, fueled by hopes, desires, and concerns, revealed a kampung transformed.

Children see a kampung connected to surrounding neighborhoods, fostering exchange and collaboration. This is not a bounded community, but a node in a web of relationships that stretches across the city.

Children's visions of a future Surabaya, replete with cooling solutions, adaptive architecture, and community resilience, exemplify this dynamic. Their imaginings are not merely individual fantasies but rather collective visions, forged in the crucible of shared experience and social context.

Children's futuring(s0 unfolded the complex interplay between heat, comfort, and urbanisation. We witness the emergence of new sociotechnical imaginaries, driven by the normative power of collective visioning. And we are reminded that the future is not set, but rather forged in the present, through the desires, expectations, and imaginings of individuals and communities.