Monthly Archives: April 2012

Jonas Schorr in Global Urbanist on the explosion of city networks

23 April 2012

Jonas Schorr addresses the recent growth of city networks, and their overduplification in a two-part series. Along with co-author Andrew Stevens, he argues against the proliferation of grand city-senate ideas and instead to ‘concentrate on creating popular democratic demand for city networking, and on giving more power and media visibility to the knowledge exchange efforts that cities already pursue.’ Read part one here. Read part two here.

Legacy linchpin: Ricky Burdett on Chobham Academy

Ricky Burdett in Architecture Today describes the architectural and urban features of the new school:  ‘Over time, it has the potential to act as a social condenser for both existing and new communities in the area – a litmus test of whether the entire Olympic project will become an integrated part of East London or stand as an isolated ghetto.’ Read the full article here.

Presenting in the Session ‘Resilient Planning: Concepts, Substance, Actions’ at the AAG Annual Meeting, Los Angeles

9 April 2012

Sabina Uffer and Juliet Davis presented their paper ‘Governance of Resilient Urban Form – Case Studies from London and New York’ at the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers in Los Angeles on 9 April 2012.

The paper investigates two cases in London and New York, whose uses and economic viabilities of the urban fabric have evolved over time. Mayfair in London, originally an elite residential neighbourhood has undergone a series of functional transformations. Trinity in New York, developed originally for industry, underwent a period of major decline, which has only recently begun to reverse. The role of the landowners in these cases has however evolved quite differently. Read the abstract here.