ASF-UK is a non-profit organisation that uses community-led design and planning to create fairer cities.
Our mission
Our mission is to ensure that community-led design and planning are at the very heart of urban development. We use our knowledge and skills to elevate the voice of those who are most affected by planning and design decisions so that together we can tackle the deepest social and environmental challenges that communities face. We believe that when diverse people have a real influence on decision-making, it will lead to creating cities that are socially and environmentally just.
Our values
We believe that those who are most impacted by design and planning decisions should be at the centre of the decision-making process. This means valuing:
- Lived experience – recognising all forms of knowledge as valuable and important.
- Marginalised perspectives – challenging systems and practices that erase voices.
- Design as a method – using creative tools to understand challenges, deepen participation, and imagine fairer futures.
- Collaboration – building partnerships to share knowledge and enact change.
Our work
Our work centres around the development, use and dissemination of processes and methods for community-led design and planning. We place a strong emphasis on building equitable partnerships with a broad range of organisations so that together we can take community-led development to scale in urban policy and practice. We work both in the UK and internationally and some of our longest-standing partnerships have been in London, Cape Town and Freetown.
Our theory of change describes how we do this to help create fairer cities.
