ENGAGING COMMUNITIES

RESIDENTS LIVING IN ONE BUILDING, APARTMENT, SOCIETY

Ankur Kashyap Radhika Bhagwat

M.Des M.Des
Bangalore, India Bangalore, India
ankurkashyap.in@gmail.com radhika.bhagwat3@gmail.com
making friends etc. Through this article we have tried to
ABSTRACT find out the reasons that make the residents engage with
each other, how engagement takes place and what are
Engaging community members is fundamental to
the barriers residents face while engaging with each
creating effective and lasting social change. It’s a general
other.
observation that nowadays residents living in one
building, apartment or society are engaging less.

“…I used to smile and say hi to her whenever we met in the
lift/stairs…after 2 months I saw that aunty coming out of house
next to us…that’s when I realized she was my neighbour!”
“…Ya I needed help but then I didn’t know whom to call…They
stayed next door but then how could I call them for help? I don’t
even remember when was the last time I spoke with them…”
Such statements piqued our curiosity to learn about the
reasons behind this and to see what opportunities laid ahead
to boost interaction and engagement between residents
living in one apartment or society. The first section of
Introduction gives the overview of why engagement
between the residents is necessary. Methodologies used to
conduct interviews are discussed in the introduction. The
second section of Findings focuses on three main questions-
Why neighbors are engage? How they engage? Why are
they not engaging? The third section of Discussions reflects
on the findings from holistic point of view and finds the
possible areas of intervention for Human Centered
Designers. The Design Exploration section gives ideas on
possible solutions to enhance engagement between the
residents and tests that can be conducted to see the efficacy
of proposed solutions. In Conclusion section topics for
further studies are discussed.
INTRODUCTION
Methodology
We interviewed people of different age groups, having
different professions, belonging to different places so that
we could study this topic laterally as well as
ethnographically. We wanted to see how these factors
affected the engagement of people in the community. Some
of our users were our fellow classmates belonging to
different places ( Masters Students, HCD, Srishti Design
Institute). We conducted their interviews in our classroom.
Some were our neighbours here in Yelahanka New town.
We conducted those interviews in their homes so that the
user could feel comfortable while giving the interview.
Some other interviews were conducted over phone with
neighbors in our home town.
FINDINGS
Based on the interviews we conducted, we got considerable
inputs on how the residents are engaging currently, what is
thwarting them from interacting with each other, what is
making them interact with each other etc.When we treated
this findings from holistic point of view, we found that
many factors were in fact interconnected with each other
and collaborated, giving us further insights. We have tried
to draw inferences keeping this approach in mind.

The main topic of our study is “Engaging Communities”.

Under this we had to focus on how we could foster 1) What is making the residents engage with each other?
engagement between residents living in one building,
apartment or society and how this engagement will lead to Same age
the overall benefit of the community. Neighbors are
We found that people of same age group were able to bond
needed for help, sharing problems, safety and security,
fast with each other. Belonging to same age group meant
that they had common topics of interest because of which
the wavelengths of people matched.
“..All of us were more of less of same age..we used to play
together, celebrate holi…we were like a family..”
“I feel our wavelengths matched because we were of same age
group...I mean we faced same problems of doing homework, we
gossiped about our teachers…we studied together…we played
together ”
Is it something more beyond “wavelength matching”? If
delved further, it could be seen that sharing of information,
ideas is happening due to common interests. Sharing is
done with someone whom you trust, whom you consider
close to you. It’s a phenomenon where the person feels he is
being involved, he is being included.
Further it can be seen that some residents had been
staying in the apartment for many years, had grown up
together and formed strong bonding with each other.
“I have been staying there since 17 years…I have grown up
with my friends there...”
Belonging to same place, region, speaking same language,
same community.
We found that belonging to same place, region, community
or speaking same language influenced the bonding and
engagement between residents. It can be observed that
when people newly join the apartment/society , they have
the tendency to first meet people with whom they share
something in common.
“We formed our group of people belonging to North India.”
“We people of Jain community performed Pooja in our society
temple every Sunday…we even celebrated festivals together.”
“I was relieved to find atleast one Marathi speaking family
there…speaking with someone in your mother tongue after a long
time feels so good!”
Why do people belonging to same community, same place,
and speaking same language bond? It’s an inherent feeling
of warmth and trust which could be making people bond
through these common grounds. Feeling of warmth is
evoked as it gives sense of belonging when you speak with
someone who is speaking in your mother tongue/is
belonging to your community/same home town.
Belonging to different regions
“Mostly we all were working people...some were students...we
belonged to different places but still we bonded so well...”
We thought as to why people belonging to different places
bonded well. We hypothesize that though people belonged
to different places but they had one thread in common. All
were staying away from home due to job requirement or for
studying. This connection might have helped them in
bonding which each other. Further it’s possible that they
shared common interests as well which helped in bonding –
most of them were working professionals.
Attitude of people
It could be seen from statement below that the demeanor of
a person is an influencing factor while interacting with him.
The body language of person, the way he speaks are
deciding factors for the further interaction to take place as it
gives the other person a glimpse into what the person is
thinking.
“I feel the way you speak to people, their body language matters
the most while bonding with people.”
“…she invited me for a cup of tea…it was sweet of her…”
Why is the outer behavior of person an influencing factor
for interaction to happen or continue in future? If the person
displays a good demeanor he emanates feeling of warmth.
This feeling is very important for interaction to take place
as it makes the other person feel that he is important and is
being heard. It makes the person feel good.If the person’s
demeanor doesn’t convey these feelings then it creates a
cognitive barrier for further interaction.
Architecture of apartment/society and Locality
We found that architecture of the
apartment/building/society is a contributing factor for
interaction to happen between residents.
“We had this common space that was formed between our
building…so after stepping out of the house I could see the
kitchens of some houses…we could talk through one floor to
another.”
“There was a common terrace connecting all three buildings.
Here we all friends used to gather and play.”
“We lived in an independent house. It was old and our neighbors
were local people. It was well connected.”
Architecture and surrounding locality play an important
role for the engagement of residents to take place. Good
architecture offers visibility to neighbors, which opens the
window for interaction to take place. It evokes the feeling
of “approachability” which helps in reducing boundaries
between neighbors. People can feel less hesitation while
initiating interaction with their neighbors.
2) How do residents engage?
Through food
Based on the interviews that we conducted, “food” appears
to be one of the most important factor for building bonds
between residents. People share food on variety of
occasions. Sweets are exchanged at the time of festivals.
Food is used as the medium to initiate interaction with
neighbors. Food is also used as a medium to build inter
community bonds. These inferences are drawn from
statements as given below:
“We celebrated festivals together. We exchanged greetings and
sweets.”
“…Our neighbour knew we were non vegetarians. She had cooked
chicken dish and she gave some of it to us..”
“Ours was a Muslim majority locality. We used to get 5-6 tiffin’s
of Biryani from our Muslim neighbours on Eid.”
Why does food play an important role for bonding between
people? In olden times, hunters used to hunt animals
together. The entire community used to gather together to
cook the prey and eat. This shows that food fosters bonding
between people. Food is one of the primal needs of human
beings. If someone shares his food with other, it could mean
that he is taking initiative to involve other person. This
feeling of being involved makes the other person feel that
he is becoming a part of new group; he is being included in
it.
Events, Activities, Festivals, Society Meetings
Residents meeting together at the time of festivals (Diwali,
Holi) are the most common point we found throughout the
interviews. They meet at different events like New Year
Party, annual gatherings, society meetings. Women also
met for kitty parties.
“We met at the time of festivals like Diwali, Holi. We bursted
crackers, exchanged sweets.”
“All the women in our building met on the occasion of “Haldi
Kumkum”…we also had kitty parties where we did cooking
together and chit chat..”
“My grandmom used to go with some of our neighbours to attend
religious events/satsangs”
Festivals and events make people engage to a great extent
because of the festive/celebration mood that is created at
that time. People are ready to spare time to celebrate them
and everyone gets included and involved. Further mass
interaction takes place on such occasions.
Technology
We found that residents are connected through digital
technology. They have formed their groups on whatsapp,
are connected through facebook, instagram etc.
“Even though I have left that apartment, I am still a part of the
whatsapp group of my old building. I feel connected to my
neighbours over there..”
“Oh I have this whatsapp group of “Vasantvihar”..so even though
we have shifted to different places now due to reconstruction of
our building I can still talk with all of them”
“We are connected through whatsapp/facebook..but we are not
dependent on it…it’s just a supplementary factor..”
Facebook,whatapp, etc are digital platforms that are serving
as “Virtual Propinquity”, meaning even though people are
not connected in person with each other, they feel
connected virtually through media. But some people said
that they are not dependent on it. It’s just a supplementary
platform for interaction. They preferred more to connect
with each other in person. Why does physical meeting
cause people to be more connected than virtual connection?
Maybe people can feel that warmth and love, basically
emotions when they meet in person. This phenomenological
experience is absent on digital platform.
Common areas in the society like swimming pool,
Common Park, temple
Residents reported about various common places in their
society where they met for doing different activities. Some
met for having chat in the common parks, some met near
the pool area and had gathering there. While some met at
the common temple top perform pooja. Common park and
playground of the society was used by children for playing.
“Old people in our society used to meet in the common park in the
evenings”
“We used to play a lot in the park/ground…our moms had to come
downstairs to take us home!…and had to spend half an hour more
chatting as we wouldn’t leave our play..”
Such common parks and playgrounds play a very important
role in the interaction of residents. They form a platform for
mass interaction to take place. People gather at such places
with common motive in mind and hence there is lot of
scope for interaction and engagement to take place. Further,
as seen from second statement not only children are
engaged through parks/playgrounds, but their parents get to
interact as well as they accompany their children.
Initiative in getting introduced
Through the interviews it was found that new residents in
the society were getting introduced to their neighbours in
three different ways. Some were introduced to their
neighbours through their relatives/friends who were already
staying there. Some got introduced as they took the
initiative of getting introduced with their neighbours. While
in some cases, the neighbours took the initiative of getting
introduced with the new residents.
“I was introduced to my neighbours through my brother. He was
staying here since past 6 months..”
“I had come to stay in this place last month. I wasn’t much aware
about my neighbours. But then on one occasion I needed someone
to help me out. The electricity in my house had gone and I had no
clue what to do. I was scared! I had no other option so I hesitantly
asked my neighbour to come to help me.She waited patiently till
the electrician was done with the work.That was so kind of her..!”
“I was opening the latch of my door and I heard her call me..she
asked me to come at her place for a cup of tea”
Through all these statements we can see that there was a
motive behind getting introduced to the neighbours.In the
second statement the person needed someone to help her
out when she faced the problem. She kept aside her initial
hesitation of interacting with her neighbour as she felt she
didn’t have any better option.
That brings us to another important question of Why people
need neighbours? or What are the motives of people behind
interacting with their neighbours ?
For this we got interesting findings. People belonging to
different age groups and different professions had varied
views as to why they needed neighbours. Further it also
varied according to gender.
Master students belonging to age group 22-30 years said “ I
need neighbours to help me when I need them, to share my
problems with them, make friends, and learn something
from them”.
One working woman, aged 32 years said “I need my
neighbours to help me, to make me feel safe as I am staying
alone here, to make new friends in this new city..”
On old person, aged 75 said “ I need neighbours so that I
can talk with them..I am a retired person and I need
someone to talk to…someone to share with…I need them to
help me if I fall ill..”
All these people are having different motives on why they want to
bond with their neighbors. “Help” was the common factor that was
found across all the people. Why do people need neighbours to
help them when they are facing problems? Can’t they call their
friends or relatives? It’s because that when immediate help is
needed, time becomes an important factor. Also people
Neighbours being in the close vicinity can be relied at such times.
But for that to take place initial bonding needs to happen with
neighbours.
Some neighbours had their own motives of getting introduced
with the new residents.
“I was curious to see what type of tenants they were... Were they
keeping the house clean? Were they engaging in some bad
business..?”
3) What hinders residents from engaging with each
other?
Hesitation while interacting with the neighbors
Most of the new residents/tenants found hesitation while
initiating interaction with their neighbors. Perceptions about
neighbors, cultural difference, attitudes of neighbors acted
as cognitive barriers for initiating interaction.
“ I felt hesitated to ask them for help…their demeanor was
not inviting when they saw us for the first time..”
“I needed help immediately…I had no other option but to
ask them for help..”
Expectations from neighbors which are not met
We found that residents had certain expectations from their
neighbors which were not met.
“My father got heart attack and I needed my neighbors to
help us. But none of my neighbors were that forthcoming to
help. My relatives and father’s friends helped us.”
“I was ill for three days and couldn’t get out of my bed.
None of my neighbors even noticed my absence and came to
enquire about me let alone worry about me..”
“ I helped them so many times but when I need them help
they can’t even spare few minutes”
It can be seen from these statements that the residents had
some expectations of helping them in some way when it
was needed. Unavailability or unwillingness on side of
neighbors to fulfill these expectations lead to the resentment
in the mind of the people who experienced this.
Perceptions about neighbors
It was seen that people already made some perceptions
about their neighbors in mind which prevented them in
interacting with the neighbors. Some of the perceptions
were based on hypothesis, “may-be” factor
“ I didn’t interact with other neighbors as I thought maybe
they will judge me through my behavior. Also I feel our
wavelengths won’t match…”
But some perceptions were based on the previous
experience neighbours had about the mentality of people
“My neighbours used to come to help keeping some ulterior
motive in mind. They pretended to help even though they
didn’t really intend to do so.They were in a way selfish.
Such was the mentality of people..”
“..even talking with girls was a big issue. Seeing me talk
with a girl, my neighbors used to comment “Dekho ladka
bada ho gaya”..this was their mentality”
Attitude of the residents is an important factor in
engagement. If the attitudes of the neighbours doesn’t
match with yours then what will be the common point on
which bonding will happen? Attitude is the core thinking,
beliefs of people which forms inherent part of human
beings, something which is cardinal. If there is clash on this
primal level, good level bonding is difficult to happen.
Closed doors – Physical barrier in communication
Through interviews we got to know that some residents
found it quite unnerving that the doors of their neighbors
were mostly closed and most of the times no one was to be
seen in the corridors, staircases.
“I can go to their house to chit chat. But with whom will I talk?
Closed doors?”
One old person (age 75 years) said-
“I want to talk with some one..but whenever I step out of my house
all I see are closed doors..I meet my neighbours by chance while
keeping garbage bag outside house”
“In our old society mostly everyone kept their door opened.We
didn’t think twice before going to any of neighbour’s place”
“Closed doors” act as a physical barrier for interaction with
the neighbours. People feel hesitated to interact with
neighbours who keep their doors always closed. Maybe
they feel hesitated as the closed doors seem to say “don’t
disturb me frequently” or “Don’t intrude my privacy”.
Closed doors act like a boundary between the person/family
and the neighbours. It’s even interesting to think about the
reasons why some people prefer to keep their door closed.
We thought about some reasons like – security.For safety
reasons people might be keeping their doors closed. Or
maybe they want to maintain their privacy. Or maybe they
are not at all interested in interacting with their neighbours.
The third point is something related to the Attitude of
People.
Some people by nature are introverts and don’t like
interacting much with their neighbours.
“I am an introvert person. I say “hi, hello, how are you” to
my neighbours but the interaction is hardly beyond that”
Some people like to maintain their personal space.
“I speak with my neighbours. I have a good bonding with
them. But when I am inside my home..I need this personal
space”
So it can be inferred from this statements that some people
prefer to keep limited interactions with the neighbors owing
to their attitude or needs. In such cases, deliberately effort is
not taken on one side to interact much with other residents.
Money minded mentality and status of residents
Some residents said that money minded mentality of their
neighbours prevented engagement between the residents .
“For celebrating any festival/event contribution is needed in the
form of money. But here some people don’t even want to spare
100 rs for this. They make faces while giving money”
This point is again related to feeling of resentment that
happens when expectations from neighbors are not met. It’s
an obvious thing that to conduct any event money
contribution is required. But if some of the people are not
interested in the events and hence don’t provide
contribution, then it becomes difficult to celebrate events
through which residents engage.
Some people quoted that difference in the status of
neighbours prevented them from interacting .
“In our old society most of residents were on same level as far as
status was concerned. But here in new society some people judge
you through your status in society”
Difference in the status of residents could be preventing
them from interacting with each other. Maybe the
discrimination is not overtly made, but through behavior/
demeanor it’s palpable. Difference in status of people
creates “cognitive barrier” for the interaction. People may
hesitate to interact.
No time to interact with neighbors
It was observed that some residents couldn’t spare time to
interact with their neighbors due to their hectic time
schedules.
“I don’t get time to interact with my neighbors…I leave for office
at 9 and return at 9.”
Feeling overwhelmed due to expectations of neighbors
We found that one of the residents felt overwhelmed due to
expectations of neighbors. In her society people were
engaging on various occasions like festivals , activities,
events etc. Neighbors expected that all the residents should
participate on all the occasions.
“Sometimes this engagement is overwhelming ...I feel
pressurized sometimes....when neighbors invite you so many
times...it's kind of obligatory for me as well to invite them at
home.”
DISCUSSION
The aim of our study was to find the different ways to
enhance the engagement between the residents living in one
building/apartment or society. We approached towards the
findings by conducting interviews of people belonging to
different age groups, living in different places, practicing
different professions. When we saw the findings from
holistic point of view we could collaborate different
insights and find the areas of interventions.
In the following we reflect on different themes which were
included in the findings.
The first theme was to know the reasons behind
engagement of residents. Interaction and bonding are
essential steps for engagement to happen. Some residents
told that they bonded with their neighbor as they belonged
to same place. Some said that same age and same attitude
made them bond together. While some others said that the
good demeanor of their neighbors opened the window for
interaction. So it can be inferred from this that people start
bonding when they find some common ground for
interaction. Also, it can be inferred that the demeanor of
person plays an important role for bonding to happen.
The second theme was to know how the engagement was
taking place between the residents. It was found that most
of the residents came together through festivals, events or
activities. Common parks, temples and playgrounds were
the platforms for mass interaction to take place. Residents
said that sharing of food was also one of the reasons for
bonding. Festivals, events, group activities are the
occasions in which joy and pleasure is gained by
celebrating together. Food is one of the primal needs of
man and when it shared with someone, the person gets a
feeling of belonging and inclusion.
The third theme focused on the reasons that prevented the
residents from engaging with each other. Majority of the
new residents in the building faced hesitation while
initiating interaction with their neighbors. This was due to
their perceptions about neighbors, cultural difference, or
lack of interest in initiating interaction. The ones who
initiated interaction had some motive in their mind. They
approached the neighbors when some help was needed.
Some young residents prevented interaction with their
neighbors as they felt that their attitudes wouldn’t match
with them. Some old residents found closed doors of their
neighbors as a hurdle for interaction while working
residents complained about not getting time to interact with
neighbors. Keeping these factors in mind, we tried to
identify possible areas of interventions, where we as human
centered designers could contribute towards enhancing of
engagement between the residents.
Many new residents said that they found hesitation for
initiating interaction with neighbors. It was due to some
prejudices they had about neighbors, cultural difference,
attitude difference etc. All these points act as cognitive
barriers for interaction. This could be one intervention area
for designers.
Closed doors proved as a physical barrier for interaction.
This was especially of concern for old people who mostly
relied on interacting with neighbors in person. This could
be second area of intervention.
Residents had some motive in mind while interacting with
neighbors. Some were extroverts while some were
introverts who didn’t like interacting much with neighbors.
How can we engage community in such a way that every
person would find something of his interest in it? This
could be third area of intervention.
How residents who don’t get time to interact with
neighbors? This could be fourth area of intervention.

DESIGN EXPLORATION

We considered different scenarios for different areas of

intervention and tried to come up with some solutions.
CONLUSION

Through this research we found that different people had

different motives behind engaging with their neighbors.
Solutions for engaging residents had to be thought about in
such a way that every resident found something of his
interest in it. Testing of the proposed design ideas is yet to
be done. Results of those tests need to be acquired. This can
be a topic for further study. This research can be used as
reference for people who study smart communities,
psychology, sociology.