1. Updates
Week 3
Good things come in threes, so here's hoping your third week in Oxford is no exception!
It was really great to see some of you at Aman Gupta's talk last week, which threw up a lot of food for thought concerning the history and memories lurking quietly throughout the urban fabric. A great evening was had by all. Read more in the Spotlight section of this newsletter.
If you're just joining the Oxford Urbanists, find us on Facebook, Twitter, and on our Website.
We still have a lot of opportunities to work with us - all of which are suitable for Freshers and continuers alike - get involved! If you are have been on fieldwork or travelling, feel free to send in your pictures and work, and have it featured in our newsletter.
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2. Urbanist News around the World
- China to launch 'artificial moon' to illuminate city streets (Aljazeera)
- The moon has long played an important role in Chinese culture, but would the replacement of street lamps with an artificial moon signify brilliance or 'lunacy'?
- Thriving amid turbulence: Imagining the cities of the future (McKinsey & Company)
- An article (with some very lovely graphics) looking at how changes in the world today - environmental, economic, technological - are shaping the urban spaces of the future
- How a Booming City Can Be More Equitable (CityLab)
- If the word 'gentrification' whips you into a mad frenzy, take a look at Barry Yeoman's insight into how a sense of community can thrive in redeveloped urban areas.
- The Mexican town that refused to become a smart city (The Guardian)
- Does the 'smart city' approach spell Westernisation?
- Green Economy for an Urban Age (LSE Cities)
- An issue close to my heart but, sometimes, a bit much for my head - how can economics help to make cities greener?
- New Hungary law bans rough sleepers, rights groups complain (Place)
- A short news article on Hungary's approach to a persistent aspect of life in cities across the world: homelessness.
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3. Urbanist Events
Events in Oxford
Monday 22 October
Beyond Informality: The Resiliency of Quito’s Informal Car Share
- Speaker: Vanessa Guerra (College of Architecture and Urban Studies, Virginia Tech)
- Details: Gilbert Room, School of Geography and the Environment, 13:00-14:30
Tuesday 23 October
Job Referrals and Strategic Network Formation - Experimental Evidence from Urban Neighbourhoods in Ethiopia
- Speaker: Marc Witte (Department of Economics)
- Details: Queen Elizabeth House, 3 Mansfield Road, 13:00
Free Planning Workshops for students
- Details: Common Ground Workspace, Little Clarendon Street, 17:30 - 18:30
Wednesday 31 October
The Operative Commons: urban land in the age of biopolitical production
- Speaker: Will Conroy
- Details: 16:30-18:00, Queen Elizabeth House
Events in the UK
Wednesday 24 October
Urbanization and Land Use Policy in China
- Speaker: Professor Yuzhe Wu (Zhejiang University)
- Details: University of Cambridge, Mill Lane Lecture Room 4, 16:00-17:00
Thursday 25 October
A city of future past: urban planning and urban construction in northeast China after the Communist Revolution
Events around the World
30 October 2018
Pax Urbanica? The Meaning of Cities for Diplomacy and Peace.
- Speaker: Parag Khanna
- Details: SMU Administration Building, Mochtar Riady Auditorium, 18:00-20:00 (Malaysia, Singapore Time).
- Register here
13 - 15 November 2018
Smart City: Expo World Congress
Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC) has been an unmissable event combining the latest solutions and technologies, and inspirational keynotes on improving life in cities. In 2018, the event intends to reflect on what makes a city livable, what happens when "gentrification" changes the whole social character of a neighborhood, and how sharing can transform the way it operates so that it can become more sustainable, resilient, inclusive and, of course, smarter with a focus on people.
29 - 30th November 2018
Urban Age 'Developing Urban Futures' Conference
- Speakers: LSE Cities at the London School of Economics, and the Alfred Herrhausen Gesellschaft.
- Details: Addis Ababa
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4. Opportunities for Urbanists
Oxford Urbanists Team - Work with us in a number of roles!
Call for Papers
The Pursuit of Global Urban History: A Dialogue Between Two Fields
Centre for Urban History at Leicester and the Global Urban History Project propose a conference to reflect on the implications for urban history of the ‘global turn’. More Information here
Scholars interested in proposing a presentation should send an abstract (max 250 words) and a two-page CV by 31 October 2018 to Sally Hartshorne, sah86@leicester.ac.uk
Call for Video Entries
Urban Audiovisual Festival, June 29-30 June - 2019
Theme: Urban Mobilities. Deadline, 15th February 2019
More Information here
PhD Scholarship
Melbourne School of Design, University of Melbourne
More information here
Developing Urban Futures
Urban Age
The Urban Age “Developing Urban Futures” conference, jointly organised by LSE Cities at the London School of Economics and the Alfred Herrhausen Gesellschaft, will focus on the development of cities in rapidly urbanising countries. By convening urban experts, policymakers and practitioners from sub-Saharan Africa and other world cities, the conference will raise questions about the economic foundations of urban change and investigate how current models of planning and governance succeed or fail to achieve greater integration between efficiency, accessibility and social justice. This will be the seventeenth Urban Age conference organised since 2005, most recently in Delhi, the Venice Biennale, Hong Kong, Rio de Janeiro and London.
- Conference dates: 29–30 November 2018
- Location: Addis Ababa
Find out more or register your interest in attending.
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Aman gave an insightful talk last week for the Urbanists about how memories of slavery are explicitly and implicitly woven into Bristol's urban fabric.
The research emerged following debates about the Rhodes statue in Oxford. As a parallel example, Aman was inspired by the memorialisation of controversial Bristol figure, Edward Colston. Contemporary debates around Colston's statue in the city centre signal a broader discussion that Bristol is having with regard to its historical association with slavery.
If you missed it, don't worry! You can still read about Aman's work on our website. Thinking about doing your own talk or piece of writing on an urban issue? Contact us at oxfordurbanists@gmail.com or find more information on how to write for us on our website. |
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As always, don't hesitate to reach out with ideas and opportunities to share with the greater Urbanist community. Have a great week!
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The Oxford Urbanists tackle contemporary urban challenges with innovative solutions through interdisciplinary, global collaboration.
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