The role of service designers has switched from producers of outcomes to enablers of action platforms for public and private subjects (Manzini, 2015). On the other side, a wave of civic engagement in public
matters has been observed and sought by both citizens and public servants in a variety of countries. Although these practices
are consistently pursued in specific contexts and are not explored in others, that are denoted in this thesis, as ‘weak contexts’. The author of this study aims to consider this lack of experimentation as a challenge for designers. She aims to explore why certain contexts are less favourable for those
practices and which system and strategies would build the premises to allow the mentioned experiences. These principles
will be condensed into guidelines for practitioners. The ‘weak context’ considered in regard to this study, is China and Shanghai whose premises will inform part of this research.