The bells are back 27 of them; on The reinstated Glockenspiel in Swiss Court, central London. Crowned by an astronomical clock, repaired and electronically enhanced they accompany the movements of cows and their keepers to the amusement of bystanders. The Glockenspiel ...Read More
Causes and remedies Riots in Britain, demonstrations to end oppression in the Middle East, sit-ins against the excesses of capitalism worldwide have stirred up the establishment, from the political classes to the popular science writers. They all grapple for explanations and ...Read More
Now that the tears over 9/11+10 are drying up, what happens to the ‘fear industry’? Fired by the war on terror it is doing really well. The surveillance and anti-terror industry has mushroomed and is well under way of becoming ...Read More
The limits to openness During a perfect summer day I was ambling on the boulevards of Paris, enjoying its public realm, open to anyone from anywhere. I did what many people do in open cities, I settled down on a ...Read More
British Council URBACT Open Cities project Up to now, all the posts on my Open Cities blog constituted inputs to the blog I was invited to write for the British Council for its Open Cities project website. This project, funded by ...Read More
Open Cities: Milestone On 25 May 2011, URBACT, the British Council, the Open Cities Network and the Open Cities project partner cities congregated at the premises of the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions in Brussels, ...Read More
Diversity: driver of openness Have a look at the EU map. It is almost entirely ‘blue’ and the remainders, e.g. Spain and Portugal, are bound to follow after elections. [caption id="attachment_698" align="aligncenter" width="283" caption="1_dia political Map of EU source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Council"][/caption] This has never ...Read More
Cities undergoing violence before transformation It is impossible to ignore that the current events in the Arab world are played out in cities. Cities are the stage of continuous change, of gain and loss and stalemate. Struggles take place openly throughout ...Read More
Cities are changing all the time but who is benefiting from such change and how does it relate to city openness? Regeneration is a widespread means to transforming specific parts of cities where places tend to lose value. For our ...Read More
It is timely to think about barriers when so many human beings are risking their lives to tear them down. Is it a primal urge of mankind to be unbound, free to move and think, free to assemble and undertake ...Read More
