This article is an exploration of the role of design in sustainability transitions. Design has the potential to complement discussions on governance and actions related to transitions in the making, and activate scholars’ ability to critically assess existing technologies, technological components and systemic relations, and their capacity to propose alternatives. The authors draw on their engagement with the project ‘A Coherent Transport System for Greater Copenhagen 2050′, and on visioning for Copenhagen's future, with a special emphasis on discussions on mobility. The primary claim is that design can have a pivotal role in destabilizing existing regimes and creating systemic alternatives and transformative technologies and components. We propose a framework that focuses on three elements: the position of designing; integration across levels of design; and design-based criticism of the existing ‘de-scriptions’ to create new designs or ‘in-scriptions’.

本文探讨了设计在可持续发展转型中的作用。设计有潜力补充有关治理和与转型相关的行动的讨论，并激发学者批判性评估现有技术、技术组件和系统关系的能力，以及提出替代方案的能力。作者借鉴了他们对“2050 年大哥本哈根的连贯交通系统”项目的参与，以及对哥本哈根未来的愿景，特别强调了关于流动性的讨论。主要主张是设计可以在破坏现有制度的稳定和创造系统性替代方案以及变革性技术和组件方面发挥关键作用。我们提出了一个关注三个要素的框架：设计的位置；跨设计层次的整合；对现有“描述”进行基于设计的批评，以创建新的设计或“铭文”。