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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 […]
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Open Cities 23 Public Realm – Civic Behaviour
A lot has been written about how to design the public realm to contribute to city openness with more or less environmental determinism in mind. CABE’s work belongs to this knowledge base. It ranges from the very physical “Adapting Public Places to Climate Change” to “Open Spaces Strategies” with focus on green spaces for deprived […]
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Open Cities14 Minaret Controversy
Changing city skylines The people have decided: no more minarets in Swiss cityscapes. The question is how and why. The controversy over minarets has to be put into the context of who is shaping city skylines, with what artifacts, for what purpose, with whose legitimacy. Ever since cities have been built they express the power […]
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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 […]