1. Updates
Week 2
Congrats on surviving first week! Hopefully you are getting settled into the rhythm of Oxford life, and are finding time to coming to our first event this Wednesday!
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.
Upcoming Urbanists Events
Wednesday 17 October
The Commemoration of Slavery: Dominant and Counter Narratives in Bristol
- Speaker: Aman Gupta (MPhil, University of Oxford)
- Details: Working Room 4, Blavatnik School of Governance, 16:30-18:00
- Event link
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2. Urbanist News around the World
- A Step-by-Step Guide for Fixing Badly Planned American Cities (CityLab)
- I've always had a soft spot for criticising American urbanism, this article provides a good range of thoughts on how we can improve American Cities.
- China goes west: a ghost city in the sand comes to life (Guardian Cities)
- Chinese Ghost Cities were until very recently, seen as massive failures of urbanism and environmental destruction. But now are we finally beginning to see the population of these new urban spaces? What opportunities are we presented with, as urbanists?
- Could developing-world cities make or break the 1.5C warming goal? (place)
- How home-based workers in Ahmedabad formed a union to improve their lives (The Global Urbanists)
- An exciting spotlight on SEWA, based in my hometown in Western India, with lessons for workers unions in other developing cities too. I have been to their offices and am well informed about their successes.
- These Floor Tiles Can Power Public Lighting While You Walk On Them (Pop Up City)
- A really interesting piece of technology! Makes you think of ways we can transform public urban space consumption into electricity production, and further into urban production too.
- "Environment and Peace" Documentary Series - based on three topics: Artisanal Fishing, Sustainable Use of Forests and Sumapaz Paramo (highlands) delimitation
- A production of one of our subscribers!
- Thriving amid turbulence: Imagining the cities of the future (McKinsey & Company)
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3. Urbanist Events
Events in Oxford
Wednesday 17 October
The Commemoration of Slavery: Dominant and Counter Narratives in Bristol
- Speaker: Aman Gupta (MPhil, University of Oxford)
- Details: Working Room 4, Blavatnik School of Governance, 16:30-18:00
- Event link
Thursday 18 October
Closing the gap: informal water markets in Kathmandu
- Speaker: Jane Zhao (Chapel Hill)
- Details: Sir Michael Dummett Lecture Theatre, Christ Church, 17:00-18:30
Friday 19th October
Job referrals and strategic network formation -- Experimental evidence from urban neighbourhoods in Ethiopia
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
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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Japanese design student Tomo Kihara developed a playful tool called Street Debater, which allows the homeless to earn money without cashing out on their dignity.
In Oxford, my college has been looking into ways we can volunteer students' time and experience to support homeless people. Could Street Debaters be a possible solution? What are the ethical implications of encouraging homeless people to become street debaters? Are we at risk of transforming the structural issues that have caused homelessness into an entertainment gimmick for the pleasure and pass time of other city dwellers? On the other hand, is this a use way of providing some source of income as well as encouraging important and often neglected public debate? Twitter us your thoughts @OxfordUrbanists |
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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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