scholarly journals ОТ «ЖИВЫХ ЛАБОРАТОРИЙ» К «ЖИВОМУ ГОРОДУ»: СОЦИАЛЬНОЕ ПРОСТРАНСТВО И МИССИЯ УНИВЕРСИТЕТА В ЭПОХУ УМНЫХ ГОРОДОВ

Author(s):  
Alexey Shcherbinin

В статье поднимается ряд проблем, связанных c теоретическим и прикладным интересом к месту и роли университета в различных моделях: от опоры в экономике выживания до драйвера технологических и социально-экономических изменений в эпоху умных городов. Целью статьи является доказательство ведущей роли университета не только в образовательной, но и в социально-экономической сферах развития города и региона. Актуальность обращения к теме подтверждается международными экономическими процессами, в которые включается Россия, – присоединение к движению умных городов, Трианонский диалог (Россия – Франция) на высшем уровне. На примере томского кейса показаны достижения университетов в социально-экономических изменениях страны. Опираясь на исторические примеры и актуальные исследования ведущих урбанистов, собственный десятилетний опыт сравнительного изучения городов, автор показывает, как университет может организовывать социальное пространство города и региона. Проанализированы ошибки, связанные с редукцией смысла и некритическим обращением с модными теориями. В статье предлагается выбор алгоритма совместной работы города и университета. Автор использует методы сравнения городских политик в отношении университета, исторической реконструкции успешных проектов сотрудничества университета и города, анализа, включённого наблюдения в ходе процесса принятия решений. Проблематизация решения задач начинается с анализа редукции смысла теорий, нередко превращаемых в модные лозунги и вытекающие из них программы преобразований, что приводит к искажению и самих теорий, и международного опыта. К числу таких модных теорий сегодня можно отнести «умный город», «креативный город». Автор разделяет позицию британского урбаниста К. Навратека относительно того, что без включения интересов гражданина и сообщества подобные проекты обречены на провал. На примере двух актуальных проектов «Умная роща» и «Живая лаборатория» (томский кейс) подтверждается разрыв со смыслом и технократическая абстрактность. Автор реконструирует образную и смысловую модель университетской рощи как визуального пространства Сибири и образа её цивилизованного будущего. На примере «живой лаборатории» BMW и Фонда Гуггенхайма раскрыто взаимодействие городских властей Нью-Йорка и жителей относительно улучшения жизненного климата и облика мегаполиса. Поднимая проблему «живых городов», автор последовательно рассматривает место университета в городе, получая подкрепление своей позиции в опубликованной Р. Флоридой статье (август 2019) по рейтингу 50 американских городов, в основе которого лежит процент выпускников университетов, что подтверждает роль университета в современной экономике знаний, потенциал для движения умных городов или тривиально – оздоровления экономики города и региона. Завершая статью, автор (опираясь на работу Г. Аве, на кейс Кливленда, проекты университетского кампуса в Томске) делает вывод о том, что формировать университетский город сегодня – это значит жить полноценной социальной жизнью.The article deals with a number of problems related to theoretical and applied aspects of the university role in various models: as a supporter in the economy of survival or as a driver of technological and socio-economic changes in the era of smart cities. The article goal is to prove the leading role of the university in both the educational and socio-economic areas of the city and region development. The academic relevance of the research is supported by the international economic processes Russia has become a member of, such as the movement of smart cities, the Trianon dialogue (Russia – France) at a high level. Using the Tomsk case, we demonstrated the achievements of universities in the socio-economic changes of the country. Based on historical examples, relevant studies of major urbanists and the author’s ten-year experience of comparative studies of cities, we show how the University can organize city and region social space. The fails associated with the reduction of meaning and uncritical handling of popular theories are analyzed. The article put forward an algorithm of the collaboration of city and university. We use methods of comparing city policies toward the university, historical reconstruction of successful cooperation projects between university and city, analysis, and participant observation during the decision-making process. Problematization of issue solving begins with an analysis of the reduction of theory meaning. This reduction often results in fashionable slogans and transformation programs, which leads to a distortion of these theories and international experience. Such popular theories today include ‘smart’ and ‘creative’ cities. We agree with K. Nawratek, the British urbanist, that such projects are doomed to failure without including the interests of the citizen and the community. The gap with meaning and technocratic abstractness are confirmed on the example of two relevant projects “Smart Grove” and “Living Laboratory” (Tomsk case). We reconstruct the figurative and semantic model of the university grove as the visual space of Siberia and the image of its civilized future. Using the example of the living laboratory of BMW and the Guggenheim Foundation, we reveal the interaction of the city authorities of New York and residents concerning improving the living climate and appearance of the metropolis. Raising the problem of living cities, we consistently consider the university role in the city. We support our position, referencing to an article, published by R. Florida (August 2019), dedicated to the rankings of 50 American cities, which is based on the percentage of university graduates. This confirms the role of the university in the modern knowledge economy, the potential for smart cities development or trivially – for improving the city and region economy. Referencing G. Ave’s publication, the Cleveland case and the projects of the Tomsk university campus, we concluded that to form a university city today means living a full social life.

2021 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
pp. 484-499
Author(s):  
Helen Traill

The question of what community comes to mean has taken on increasing significance in sociological debates and beyond, as an increasingly politicised term and the focus of new theorisations. In this context, it is increasingly necessary to ask what is meant when community is invoked. Building on recent work that positions community as a practice and an ever-present facet of human sociality, this article argues that it is necessary to consider the powerful work that community as an idea does in shaping everyday communal practices, through designating collective space and creating behavioural expectations. To do so, the article draws on participant observation and interviews from a community gardening site in Glasgow that was part of a broader research project investigating the everyday life of communality within growing spaces. This demonstrates the successes but also the difficulties of carving out communal space, and the work done by community organisations to enact it. The article draws on contemporary community theory, but also on ideas from Davina Cooper about the role of ideation in social life. It argues for a conceptual approach to communality that does not situate it as a social form or seek it in everyday practice, but instead considers the vacillation between the ideation and practices of community: illustrated here in a designated community place. In so doing, this approach calls into focus the frictions and boundaries produced in that process, and questions the limits of organisational inclusivity.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liam James Heaphy

The study of physical and social divisions in divided societies has long been an area of study, such as the continued usage of 'peace walls' in Belfast, hostile architecture to prevent anti-social behaviour and rough sleeping, and the securitisation of private spaces. In the context of a new drive to create a smart district, this paper looks at the relationship between smart urbanism and planning, and at the spatial and social divisions between a new 'gentrifying' and well-educated community in the Dublin Docklands and established communities in the area. The Dublin Docklands redevelopment marks a significant break from a pattern of suburbanisation and inner-city decline and repurposes part of the former port area as a city centre extension. The paper accounts for the reshaping of the Dublin Docklands as a ‘smart district’ in collaboration with the city authorities, based on over thirty semi-structured interviews and participant-observation at consultation events. It argues that reductive definitions of smart cities as networking technologies be reworked into broader considerations on urban technologies and the future of cities, with greater emphasis on the relationship between technologies branded as ‘smart’ and the material and digital manifestation of boundaries in urban form.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-24
Author(s):  
Fatma Ünal

Universities have missions to conduct scientific research, produce information and technology, fulfill the function of qualified human power needed by the societies at the universal level, as well as lead the transformation of the region and the city regarding social, cultural and economic perspective. The growth and development of universities and effective fulfillment of their functions are associated with the people’s perception about universities’ economic and social contributions to society along with getting approval and support from them. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the perceptions, evaluations and expectations of Bartın people towards Bartın University, which celebrated the 11th anniversary of the foundation in 2019. In the study, which used a mixed research method, 255 people were reached by using the criterion sampling method and the data were collected by demographic information form, scale and interview form. Findings revealed that Bartın people had little participation in the activities organized by the university and were not aware of these activities sufficiently. Findings also showed that socio-cultural activities organized by the university had enriched the social life, the development of the university had increased the possibilities of transportation both in the city and intercity and the increase in the number of the students positively affected the tradespeople. Additionally, it was concluded that the trainings and activities organized in the university contributed to the personal and professional development of the society. Moreover, the activities should be increased and cityoriented researches should be conducted. Participants, who stated the rapid development of the university as the most powerful aspect of the university, shared the suggestion that the academic staff should be increased in quantity and merit should be taken as the basis for the improvement.


Author(s):  
Jeanne Clegg ◽  
Emma Sdegno

Our contribution concerns a phase in the history of the building that gives the University its name. When Ruskin came to Venice in 1845 he was horrified by the decayed state of the palaces on the Grand Canal, and by the drastic restorations in progress. In recording their features in measurements, drawings and daguerreotypes, Ca’ Foscari took priority, and his studies of its traceries constitute a unique witness. This work also helped generate new ideas on the role of shadow in architectural aesthetic, and on the characteristics of Gothic, which were to bear fruit in The Seven Lamps and The Stones of Venice. In his late guide to the city, St Mark’s Rest, Ruskin addressed «the few travellers who still care for her monuments» and offered the Venetian Republic’s laws regulating commerce as a model for modern England. Whether or not he knew of the founding of a commercial studies institute at Ca’ Foscari in 1868, he would certainly have hoped that it would teach principles of fair and just trading, as well as of respectful tourism.


Author(s):  
Hung Viet NGO ◽  
◽  
Quan LE ◽  

The world’s population is forecasted of having 68% to be urban residents by 2050 while urbanization in the world continues to grow. Along with that phenomenon, there is a global trend towards the creation of smart cities in many countries. Looking at the overview of studies and reports on smart cities, it can be seen that the concept of “smart city” is not clearly defined. Information and communication technology have often been being recognized by the vast majority of agencies, authorities and people when thinking about smart city but the meaning of smart city goes beyond that. Smart city concept should come with the emphasizing on the role of social resources and smart urban governance in the management of urban issues. Therefore, the "smart city" label should refer to the capacity of smart people and smart officials who create smart urban governance solutions for urban problems. The autonomy in smart cities allows its members (whether individuals or the community in general) of the city to participate in governance and management of the city and become active users and that is the picture of e-democracy. E-democracy makes it easier for stakeholders to become more involved in government work and fosters effective governance by using the IT platform of smart city. This approach will be discussed more in this paper.


Author(s):  
Robert Garner ◽  
Yewande Okuleye

This chapter serves three main functions. First, it identifies the ten core members of the Oxford Group, and documents their backgrounds and the circumstances of their arrival in the city of Oxford. The Oxford Group consisted of three married couples: Roslind and Stanley Godlovitch, Peter and Renata Singer, and Richard and Mary Keshen. Next were the three singletons who shared a house in Oxford: John Harris, David Wood, and Michael Peters. Finally, and slightly more at the periphery—partly because of his age and partly because he was not an Oxford student (or married to one)—there was Richard Ryder. Second, it describes the formation of the Oxford Group and the key role played by the gatekeepers. Here, a dynamic role was played by the Godlovitches and by Brigid Brophy who did most to bring the group together Finally, the role of what Farrell describes as the “magnet place,” in our case Oxford—and the university in particular—is dissected. The importance of access to a major seat of learning that had a unparalled reputation in the field of philosophy and which was at the forefront of the development of a new field of applied ethics is documented.


Author(s):  
Roberto Pagani ◽  
Gian Vincenzo Fracastoro

The post-shock scenario is outlined: an uncertain future with a “new normality.” The embryos of the new paradigm are alongside the powerful discontinuity generated by COVID-19. With examples and anecdotes from Shanghai and China, a transformation already underway is portrayed. No more perfect shock could be thought to reconsider the role of humans on this planet, on our cities. There is a crucial need for resilience of local systems, for short chains, for autonomous energy and food self-sufficiency, for decentralizing essential products. Security and contingency plans are needed and must operate on a global scale, but at the same time at the country and the city level. The future must be reinvented, acting in depth, for shifting from “exploitation” to “cooperation” with natural systems. Topics are education, work, services, transport, food safety.


2022 ◽  
pp. 126-143
Author(s):  
Zsuzsanna Tomor

While the role of citizens in smart cities is hotly debated, there is a dearth of empirical research on the subject. This in-depth study of a European city, selected for its typical smart city ambitions, explores the roles that citizens actually play in smart city projects. The study examines twelve initiatives in the City of Utrecht (NL) using a framework that differentiates between types of citizen participation. The findings show that technology-enabled citizen participation in Utrecht is highly diverse and embraces all types of participation rather than simply taking the form of either “citizen empowerment” (as the advocates argue) or “citizen subjugation' (as the critics stress). The diversity found in the study highlights the need to conceptualize the role of the smart citizen at the micro (project) level rather than at the level of the city as a whole. The study shows that citizen participation in the smart city should not be understood as a technological utopia or dystopia but as an evolving, technologically mediated practice that is shaped by a variety of factors.


Author(s):  
Rakesh Pandey

Dharamvir Bharati was one of the most versatile literary figures of modern Hindi Literature in independent India. Born on 25 December, 1926 in a Kayastha family in Allahabad in North India, Bharati grew up witnessing one of the most creative phases in the field of politics, education and literature during late colonial era of which the city was a central node. Bharati majored in Hindi literature at the University of Allahabad (gaining an MA in 1946 and a Ph.D in 1954) and devoted himself to researching mediaeval literary traditions of the Siddhas, a Buddhist Vajrayan sect. He later joined the same university as a lecturer before moving to Bombay in 1960 as the editor of the Hindi weekly Dharmayug, a position which he held until 1987. Bharati’s wider literary reputation rings the name of the play Andha Yug (1954), based on the episodes of the Mahabharata, and two novels, Gunahon Ka Devata (1949) and Suraj Ka Satwan Ghoda (1952), capturing the themes of his city’s social life. Later Bharati earned a unique reputation as a writer-editor who nurtured a new style of journalistic writing in Hindi.


Urban Studies ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 384-405 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Housel ◽  
Colleen Saxen ◽  
Tom Wahlrab

What is possible if Dayton became a city that intentionally welcomed immigrants? This question was the starting point for a community conversation about the wellbeing of and outreach toward immigrants in a midsize city in southwest Ohio – the City of Dayton. This paper examines the processes employed to support the emergence of an immigrant-welcoming initiative now called ‘Welcome Dayton’. Early conversations resulted in a formal plan, written by the community and endorsed by city commissioners, which realigned and crystallised local priorities, sparking a wide spectrum of efforts aimed at becoming a welcoming city. Using qualitative methods, primarily participant observation, we identified practices of creating spaces where both long-time residents and recent immigrants come together in a way that recognises and reveals the value of each participant’s perspectives and ideas. Herein we examine the practices of creating and sustaining Welcome Dayton, paying particular attention to the role of recognition in generating ‘resourcefulness’ in the community.


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