The Urban Age ‘Shaping Cities’ conference at the 15^th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia will investigate how people, institutions, policymakers, investors and designers affect the physical form of cities, and how this impacts on the way we live in them. A full list of speakers, as well as an outline of each conference session, is now available online here.

Ed Charlton, Mellon Fellow in Cities and the Humanities at LSE Cities, has today launched an exhibition showcasing photographs and literary renderings of Johannesburg. “Johannesburg: A City Between” features photographs from Jodi Bieber’s collection, Between Dogs and Wolves: Growing up with South Africa  (1996). They reveal spaces and people struggling to survive amidst the city that was and the city yet to come. Pairing these images with words from some of the city’s most incisive biographers, this exhibition prompts to us think about how Johannesburg has always been in one way or another a twilight space, a city forever caught between its own irreconcilable extremes.

The exhibition, in LSE’s Atrium Gallery, is open to all, no ticket required. Visitors are welcome during weekdays (Monday – Friday) between 10am and 8pm (excluding bank holidays, when the school is closed, at Christmas and Easter, or unless otherwise stated on the web listing). It is open until Friday July 8, 2016.

Conflicts of an Urban Age, a Special Project of the 15^th International Architecture Exhibition realised by La Biennale di Venezia, opens today in Venice. Curated by LSE Cities, it is part of the Urban Age programme jointly organised by the London School of Economics and Political Science and Deutsche Bank’s Alfred Herrhausen Gesellschaft. It explores patterns of urban growth between 1990 and 2015 and asks how we can apply the lessons of these twenty-five years to the future of cities. In the context of Habitat III, the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development that will be held in Quito, Ecuador on 17-20 October 2016, the exhibition documents the transformation of fishing villages into megacities and examines how 5 billion urban dwellers can be accommodated by 2030. It runs from May 28th – November 27th 2016.

Professor Ricky Burdett visited Kelmscott School in Walthamstow, East London as part of the school’s annual “drop down day”. This special event for pupils between 11-16 focuses on London and includes a programme of guest talks and workshops from leading artists and writers. Ricky will deliver a talk about cities to pupils.

LSE Cities’ Director, Professor Ricky Burdett, spoke at the Summer term instalment of the LSE’s Alumni Lecture Series. The talk, London 2012: The Regeneration Opportunity, was chaired by Kurt Barling of BBC London, and also featured contribitions from Gordon Innes, Chief Executive Officer, London & Partners and Tony Travers, Director, LSE London.

Much has been said about the unique regeneration opportunity offered by the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and the aim to leave a substantial legacy of lasting benefit to London and Londoners. While the Games offer a foundation for the development of areas such as the Lower Lea Valley, Stratford and East London, this panel discussion considered the regeneration impact of the Games on London as a whole, and the wider economy.