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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 […]
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Open Cities 19 Gating Openness
Gated communities are the antinomy of openness. The collection of articles in ‘Gated Communities, Social Sustainability in Contemporary and Historical Gated Developments’, edited by Samer Bagaeen and Ola Uduku (Earthscan 2010) has the merit to cover all continents and to be written by authors who, on the whole come from the places they write about. […]
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Open Cities 18 Openness and Empowerment
Revisiting ‘Empowerment’ Empowerment, now there is a buzz word congenial with politicians. It implies giving power to the powerless, to the disenfranchised, to the silent majority. How can that be achieved and do these targeted groups want it? Do they want the type of power on offer? Often it turns out to be responsibility within […]