The Future City - Re-writing the Rule Book

“The country has fallen on hard times… [and] turning things around will take more than just pouring money into shovel-ready projects, regardless of how they might boost the economy….. We long for a bold urban vision”.  

Nicolai Ouroussoff- New York Times(1)

Seizing the initiative in the face of social and economic dislocation has at times provided a springboard for re-imagining the city and reinvigorating metropolitan life.  If there’s a link between Haussmann’s Paris, Burnham’s Chicago and Robert Moses’ New York, then perhaps it was their recognition of the importance of breaking through the barriers of their times – they looked to transcend the limits of what was commonly thought possible.

Today, commentators such as Ouroussoff argue that moving forward requires more than just pouring in public funds as stimulus for development. There’s a need for ideas and vision too. So what might represent a way forward? From ‘slow cities’ to ‘creative cities’, and ‘liveable cities’ to ‘hungry cities’; from ‘aerotropolis’ to ‘postopolis’, and the ‘compact city’ to the ‘città diffusa’; there are any number of ideas out there that purport to represent a basis for the future city.  But is what is on offer today ambitious, challenging and bold enough? Do the visionaries of today respect current rules and accept contemporary limits?  Or are they the ideas of risk takers who are attempting to move beyond?

In this final session we invite three teams of aspiring urban visionaries to present and defend their min/max solutions for the future city.  This is your chance to crit their ideas…. and through doing so, to flesh out your own.  

Future City Presentions:

Karl Sharro - Architect, writer.

Tomorrow's Thoughts Today - London-based think tank

Derek Walker, Derek Walker Associates

Panel:

Daniel Durrant, Project Coordinator, Regional Cities East

Penny Lewis, Writer & lecturer Scott Sutherland School of Architecture.

Biljana Savic, Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment.

Chair:

Vicky Richardson - Editor, Blueprint.

 

Read on…..

Hungry City: How Food Shapes Our Lives  - Carolyn Steele - Chatto & Windus (5 Jun 2008)

Urban Development To Combat Climate Change: Dongtan Eco-city and

Risk Management Strategies (pdf) - Peter R. Head, and J. Gary Lawrence

Opportunity Urbanism: An Emerging Paradigm for the 21st Century (pdf) - Joel Kotkin

Manifesto: Towards a New Humanism in Architecture (pdf) - ManTowNHuman  03 July 2008

tomorrowsthoughtstoday  - Exploring the consequences of fantastic, perverse and underrated urbanism

Paper City: Urban Utopias – Vicky Richardson

1.  Nicolai Ouroussoff - Reinventing America’s Cities - The Time Is Now New York Times