Society Optioneering: designing societal alternatives through morphological analysis
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
In urban planning, landscape and architecture design, designers and planners often confront intricate and multidimensional societal issues. To effectively address these challenges, this paper introduces a Morphological Analysis (MA) approach that systematically explores and aids generation of a variety of societal design solutions. MA involves constructing a matrix of subsystems and the corresponding options. It integrates both quantitative and qualitative factors and allows designers to explore concepts and to clarify the certainties or uncertainties of a problem at an early stage of the design process through arising evaluation. This paper further integrates MA with artificial intelligence generated content (AIGC) to rapidly generate and evaluate design proposals, thereby enhancing the innovation and practicality of the design process. The proposed Society Optioneering framework improves the scientific and adaptability of solutions and fosters interdisciplinary collaboration. This integration enables designers to explore problems from multiple perspectives, discover a broader array of solutions, and evaluate them effectively using systematic tools. Thus it can maintain flexibility and adaptability throughout the design process, continually optimizing and adjusting the design strategy. This study enriches design theory and provides practical tools and guidance for related fields.
Date Issued
2025-01-01
Date Acceptance
2025-09-28
Citation
Landscape Architecture Frontiers, 2025, 13 (6), pp.128-141
ISSN
2096-336X
Publisher
Higher Education Press
Start Page
128
End Page
141
Journal / Book Title
Landscape Architecture Frontiers
Volume
13
Issue
6
Copyright Statement
Copyright © Higher Education Press 2025. This is the author’s accepted manuscript made available under a CC-BY licence in accordance with Imperial’s Research Publications Open Access policy (www.imperial.ac.uk/oa-policy)
License URL
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2026-01-07