-
Dissent
Not all is well in the (alp-)rose garden? In the midst of wealth and dynamic urban change a group of artists are manifesting their disquiet, or more urgently their angst about what extreme wealth is inflicting on those without access to any of it. Their work expresses how over-confidence is affecting those who do not […]
-
OC 53: Stag Place Revisited
Urban transformation: for better or for worse: – then? In the early nineteen seventies, I asked my post graduate students to explore two areas of central London of equal size, and observe their fabrics and how they were used to identify what interventions they could propose as aspiring urbanists to improve them. One area was […]
-
OC 50: East London Transformations
After the games Now that the London Olympic Games have closed their doors and a fence has been re-erected around the whole site it may be a good time to reflect on what urban transformations lie in stall for the East End. The third European Urban Summer School (EUSS), initiated by the Association of European […]
-
OC 42: Open City – Open Mind
At a crossroads For reasons unexplained, I have always marked the arbitrary change in time, the passage from one western calendar year to the next, with a message to my trans-spatial diaspora of family, friends and colleagues. This lone drawing of the year is supposed to express the passage of time in a landscape of […]
-
OC 40: Anatomy of Riots – Snapshots
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 corrective interventions. Yet, the jury is out on the evidence base. When young, media […]
-
Open Cities 30 Steely Closure
Culture of fear Is it not ironic that a city which broadcasts its openness worldwide is the first to surround itself with a ring of steel? Already one of the most ‘surveilled’ city in the world, the City of London is adding ring after ring of enclosures, thereby turning into a pioneer 21st century fortress. […]
-
Open Cities 26 Who Is The Other?
When openness issues are unravelling themselves in other countries they can concentrate the mind about openness at ‘home’. A snap shot across media debates during a journey through Europe may illustrate this mirror function. Snapshots of ‘the other’ in Europe While in the UK, the political coalition is trying to reconcile a perceived immigration surplus […]
-
Open Cities 24 Identity as closure?
What is stirring the minds and hearts in Switzerland is fascinating. The centre of attention is an initiative by a politician, Christoph Blocher, a rich industrialist who is making his money with factories staffed by foreign female labour. He is head of the ultra right wing party, the Swiss People Party (SVP/UDC), which is relentlessly […]
-
Open Cities 20 Redressing Asymmetry
The reason why ‘Open Cities’ is an object of debate is that many urban dwellers are questioning its reality. One way of reaching a judgement is to objectivise ‘openness’ of cities. Another is resistance to asymmetry of uninhibited access to the city. The former is pursued by the British Council which is supporting the development […]
-
Open Cities 17 Mixed Communities – Openness or Myth?
Mixed communities could be construed as an indicator of an open city. This presumes a definition of mixed communities. The Future of London’s Social Housing was discussed at a seminar held at the London School of Economics on 19 February 2010. This offers an opportunity to explore the contribution of social housing to mixed communities […]
-
Open Cities 16 Openness and Age
‘Open Cities’ evoke many implicit assumptions. The tend to imply some idea of ‘goodness’. In the most general terms open cities are assumed to be sustainable, to provide a harmonious setting for physical, social, environmental and to some extent economic wellbeing to prosper, also for future generations. In physical terms open cities imply access to […]
-
Open Cities 13 Winter Break Reading
Fiction vs Reality Sometimes fiction may reveal more than statistics. In a footloose world, bookstalls in airports and railway stations prepare travellers for their journey. On display are travelogues on cities they intend to visit, reassuringly from the perspective of their point of departure. For those with an appetite for greater displacement there are authors […]
-
Open Cities12 Power and Enclosure
Enclosures Fences, barriers, railings, walls, hedges, barricades, enclosures with their gates are all expressions of exclusion. They manifest the power of those who are in a position to exclude. Why should they put up barriers? What do these obstacles do for them, and against whom? Protection is invoked. Those behind enclosures are protecting themselves but […]
-
Open Cities 4 Openness and Closure
Open Cities 4 Openness and Closure Welcome to open cities Bright sunshine, holiday time. Many of us plan to take off somewhere to the beach, the mountains, the countryside. Yet, many city dwellers choose to visit other cities. They enjoy to displace themselves for a short while, physically and mentally, to experience another place, immerse […]
-
Open Cities 3 The Case of London
Open Cities 3 The Case of London Openness or diversity? London is by far the largest city of the European Union and arguably the most diverse in terms of its population, economy and cultural characteristics. How does London fare with openness though? A diverse city does not necessarily mean an open city The Open Cities […]