[call for abstract: 31/05/2009]
In the framework of the the Laboratorio Cittadinanza/Workshop on Citizenship, in cooperation between the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Planum and the University Rome 3, the project ‘New Neighbourhoods in Europe’ is announced. A variety of new ‘neighbourhoods’ have been built in Europe in the last 30 years. The building market has grasped the opportunities of marketing a variety of ways of living, entire working class neighbourhoods (besides old historic centres, and some sparse villages) have been gentrified; some new ones have been build, attempting to define a new ideal of ’sustainable’ living. Besides, the rehabilitation of city centres, brown fields or derelict lands is instrumental to the strategies of economic development. These
neighborhoods are often aimed at experimenting with the urban space, innovating the local economy, sometimes supporting the project of a ‘creative’ city. Most of the innovations heralded by these neighbourhoods are related to planning, environment or urban design; yet, some others address the larger issue of ‘liveability’, combining social and material requirements. For instance, mixing functions and activities, hosting cultural institutions, providing affordable housing or new housing types, experimenting with technologies. Critical notions of these new experiments are the idea of social variety, of knowledge and culture districts, a supposed sequence between liveability-creativity-innovation. Such neighborhoods are thus inherently ambiguous: historical centres are re-tuned by the tourism and entertainment industry; gentrified working class areas become cultural districts; reverted industrial zones host universities and research centres… The objective is to produce a volume with contributions of PhD researchers reflecting on the emergence of new neighbourhoods in the European City. We are kindly inviting students -in the field of urban heritage, urban studies, urban planning, architecture and other related disciplines- to send in an abstract for a chapter in the planned book. Relevant subjects are: - The political side of new developments, studying the form of urbanity (or citizenship) implicit in the design of new settlements | - Accessibility to public space and public goods in the neighbourhoods | - The innovative or traditional feature and life-styles that these neighbourhoods implicitly foster | - The contextual and political factors influencing the concept and design of these neighbourhoods | - The contribution with innovation and the new economy | Please, send an abstract of no more than 400 words explaining the case study that you would like to bring in and how your chapter will be addressing one or more of these subjects. Info: e-mail: m.cremaschi@uniroma3.it - Frank.Eckardt@archit.uni-weimar.de - www.planum.net