Monthly Archives: November 2011

Ricky Burdett compares cities worldwide in the New Statesman

30 November 2011

Ricky Burdett argues in the recent issue of the New Statesman that “Ultimately, cities can both brutalise and humanise people and the environment. Which way they go depends on governance and leadership. Rediscovering the fragile thread that links physical order to human behaviour will be the main task of a world where 75 per cent of us will be living in cities.” Read the full article.

Adam Kaasa interviewed by Brazilian architecture blog

28 November 2011

Brazilian-based projetoBLOG interviewed Adam Kaasa on the work of the Urban Age programme and the challenges posed by the enduring economic and financial crisis in regard to a more sustainable regime of urbanisation. “The occupy movement needs to be thought through in the context of urban transformation and public space”, says Kaasa. Read the interview (ES & EN).

Ricky Burdett to speak at RCA Architecture Lecture Series 2011/12

Ricky Burdett will speak on 6 December at the RCA Lecture Series ‘Future Frontiers: The Battleground for Ideas in the 21st Century’, which focuses on five critical themes that are currently shaping the production of architecture and urbanism. For the first lecture, Ricky Burdett and Joseph Rykwert will discuss the issue of consumption. You can claim a free place by sending an email to boris.cesnik@rca.ac.uk (subject to availability). Get the details.

Cities, health and well-being research in the news

22 November 2011

With the 10th Urban Age conference formally drawing to a close last week, the discussions on urban health and well-being by over 200 experts, academics and practitioners hit the news. For the South China Morning Post, Paul Yip discusses the issue of isolation in highly connected Hong Kong (register free), while Christine Loh reflects on the link between income and health inequality (also in Chinese in HK Economic Times). Additionally, new infographics produced by LSE Cities were featured in the Urban Lab Global Cities blog.

Ricky Burdett featured in FT’s ‘Mapping the innovative city’

17 November 2011

Ricky Burdett argues in the Financial Times that state or municipal intervention needs to be smart as well as properly resourced to re-invent cities. ‘Turin and the broader reg­ion, Piedmont, were proactive as the downturn kicked in, allowing significant investment bet­ween universities, foundations and industry to create high-tech and innovative clusters’, says Burdett. Read the complete article (registration required).