Urbane-ing the City

Author(s):  
Amanda Williams ◽  
Erica Robles ◽  
Paul Dourish

This chapter critically examines the notion of “the city” within urban informatics. Arguing that there is an overarching tendency to construe the city as an economically and spatially distinct social form, we review a series of system designs manifesting this assumption. Systematically characterizing the city as a dense ecology of impersonal social interactions occurring within recognizably public places, this construction can be traced to turn-of-the-century scholarship about the metropolis. The idealized dweller of these spaces, the flâneur, functions as the prototypical user for urban computing technologies. This assumption constrains the domain of application for emergent technologies by narrowing our conception of the urban experience. Drawing on contemporary urban scholarship, we advocate an alternative perspective which foregrounds the experience rather than the form of the metropolis. Users become actors embedded in global networks of mobile people, goods, and information, positioned in a fundamentally heterogeneous and splintered milieu. Grounding this approach in a preliminary study of mobility practices in Bangkok, Thailand, we illustrate how urban informatics might refine its subject, accounting for local particularities between cities as well as the broader global networks of connection between these sites.

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 110-125
Author(s):  
George Chatzinakos

This paper seeks to conceptualize the way Thessaloniki is promoting culinary tourism, whilst supporting and building upon local networks; engaging and co-creating an urban experience with its citizens and visitors. The aim of the paper is to suggest a potential framework that can be used as a strategic planning tool for the promotion of culinary tourism in Thessaloniki. In this direction, a food festival is being investigated. The last, is conceived by the organizers as the foundation of the idea of culinary tourism in the city. However, the findings indicate that there is a lack of active participation by the locals and not enough communication among various assets that are associated with the culinary identity of the city. In general, Thessaloniki seems to embody the ongoing struggle of a new destination, which is dealing with the complex process of branding and marketing without having the proper tools and the vital required collaboration between its structural networks. Accordingly, the research provides a lens through which the culinary culture of Thessaloniki can be used as a strategic pillar for stimulating a sustainable way of “consuming” and promoting the city’s identity; enhancing Thessaloniki’s appeal as a culinary destination.


2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-149
Author(s):  
Jan Siegemund

AbstractLibel played an important and extraordinary role in early modern conflict culture. The article discusses their functions and the way they were assessed in court. The case study illustrates argumentative spaces and different levels of normative references in libel trials in 16th century electoral Saxony. In 1569, Andreas Langener – in consequence of a long stagnating private conflict – posted several libels against the nobleman Tham Pflugk in different public places in the city of Dresden. Consequently, he was arrested and charged with ‘libelling’. Depending on the reference to conflicting social and legal norms, he had therefore been either threatened with corporal punishment including his execution, or rewarded with laudations. In this case, the act of libelling could be seen as slander, but also as a service to the community, which Langener had informed about potentially harmful transgression of norms. While the common good was the highest maxim, different and sometimes conflicting legally protected interests had to be discussed. The situational decision depended on whether the articulated charges where true and relevant for the public, on the invective language, and especially on the quality and size of the public sphere reached by the libel.


Author(s):  
Mara Regina do Nascimento

Este artigo propõe-se a ser uma colaboração com os estudos dedicados às irmandades religiosas brasileiras, na sua face regional. A linha de pensamento adotada toma a cidade, a experiência urbana e as ditas associações religiosas como instâncias sociais intimamente relacionadas e interdependentes. Durante o século XIX, a irmandade gestora da Santa Casa de Misericórdia em Porto Alegre cumpria um papel fundamental não apenas para a composição material de seu espaço, mas igualmente para conferir-lhe o status de importante cidade dentro do mosaico urbano que compunha o Império brasileiro. Tomando por base o histórico de ações concretas da irmandade, como a construção do Hospital, as iniciativas para a caridade e filantropia e a promoção das festas litúrgicas, este artigo analisa o vínculo indissociável entre o associativismo católico e o estilo de vida urbano dos setecentos e oitocentos. Palavras-chave: Irmandades Religiosas. Santa Casa de Misericórdia. Cultura Urbana.AbstractThis paper intends to collaborate with other works dedicated to the study of brazilian religious brotherhoods, in their regional aspect. The line of thought  adopted takes the city, the urban experience and the religious associations above mentioned as closely related and interdependent social instances. During the XIX century, the brotherhood in charge of the Holy House of Mercy in the city of Porto Alegre played a fundamental role, not just in the material composition of the urban space, but also in giving it the status of an important city within the urban mosaic comprised by the Brazilian Empire. Based on the (historic of) concrete actions of this brotherhood, as were the construction of the Hospital, the creation of a social representation for the notion of charity, and the promotion of liturgic feasts, this article analyses the unbreakable bond between catholic associativism and the urban lifestyle of the XVIII and XIX centuries.Keywords: Religious Brotherhoods. Holy House of Mercy. Urban Culture. 


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 291-303
Author(s):  
R.Y. Fedorov ◽  
◽  
O.S. Sizov ◽  
V.V. Kuklina ◽  
A.A. Lobanov ◽  
...  

On example of the city of Nadym, located in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Area, the authors consider the socio-ecological problems of the development of green, blue and white open urban spaces. The research approach presented in the article is based on the study of a multifaceted complex of urban social and natural systems in their integrated unity, not just as public places, but as biomes — highly integrated urban ecosystems. A posteriori the reserchers based on the materials of interviews conducted in 2020 with experts who in different years took part in the study or planned the development of the open urban spaces in Nadym, as well as on the analysis of available publications on this topic and publicly available data. The study found that factors such as the short summer, during which many residents leave the city, as well as the prevalence of freezing temperatures for almost eight months, in fact, transform the green and blue spaces of Nadym into white. This situation indicates the advisability of a more active appeal to the concept of a “winter city” in the development of the city urban environment. The application of the concept principles can be in demand in the process of creating more comfortable living conditions and spatial mobility of the Nadym residents, as well as for developing the recreational opportunities of the city open spaces and integrating them into the natural environment surrounding the city, which in general can be considered as one of the factors for the sustainable development of the city and the formation of post-industrial features in its socio-economic life.


2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 59-70
Author(s):  
Niyati Jigyasu

The first half of the 20th century was a turning point in the history of India with provincial rulers making significant development that had positive contribution and lasting influence on India’s growth. They served as architects, influencing not only the socio-cultural and economic growth but also the development of urban built form. Sayajirao Gaekwad III was the Maharaja of Baroda State from 1875 to 1939, and is notably remembered for his reforms. His pursuit for education led to establishment of Maharaja Sayajirao University and the Central Library that are unique examples of Architecture and structural systems. He brought many known architects from around the world to Baroda including Major Charles Mant, Robert Chrisholm and Charles Frederick Stevens. The proposals of the urban planner Patrick Geddes led to vital changes in the urban form of the core city area. New materials and technology introduced by these architects such as use of Belgium glass in the flooring of the central library for introducing natural light were revolutionary for that period. Sayajirao’s vision for water works, legal systems, market enterprises have all been translated into unique architectural heritage of the 20th century which signifies innovations that had a lasting influence on the city’s social, economic, administrative structure as well as built form of the city and its architecture. This paper demonstrates how the reformist ideas and vision of an erstwhile provincial ruler lead to significant architecture at the turn of the century in Princely state of Vadodara.


2010 ◽  
Vol 38 (109) ◽  
pp. 55-69
Author(s):  
Hjørdis Havsteen Brandrup

CULTURAL DYNAMIC IN THE URBAN EXPERIENCE SCAPE – AN ANALYSIS OF BRANDTS KLÆDEFABRIKBrandts Klædefabrik (Brandt’s Textile Mill) is a cultural cluster in the city of Odense, Denmark. The cultural experiences available at Brandts Klædefabrik cover a wide field and are relevant for people of all levels of education and all ages, embracing as they do not only fine culture but also triviality and excitement. Brandts Klædefabrik is therefore a culturally inclusive place, although its symbolic power is dominated by a cultural and economic elitetrying to maintain an exclusively controlled social and physical order in the urban space. However, Brandts Klædefabrik is part of a city which contains a wide range of cultural groups: a Danish cultural elite, immigrants, homeless people and drug addicts. In this cultural multiplicity Brandts Klædefabrik is a cultural cluster and an urban entertainment district which does not include marginalised groups. Paradoxically, the attempt to maintainan exclusive order to satisfy an audience with buying power runs against the creative profile of the area, in which cultural and social multiplicity are important values. The area around Brandts Klædefabrik is a public space; but if it is going to be a public domain and the scene of cultural exchanges between different groups in the city, it needs to become more culturally inclusive. Brandts Klædefabrik may turn into a public domain if a cultural dynamic and multiplicity are given the chance to unfold there.


2021 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sajad Afzali ◽  
Faezeh Taheri Sarmad ◽  
Mojtaba Heidari ◽  
Seyed Hossein Jalali

Urban geology is a preliminary study for the construction and development of cities, which has been more prominent in recent decades in some countries despite its long application history. It assesses the impact of geological and natural phenomena on urban space and available structures. The earthquake on Nov. 21, 2017, inflicted a lot of damage to the city of Sarpol-e Zahab, west of Iran, including financial losses and casualties. Reconstruction of this city and planning for its sustainable development entail conducting urban geological studies. In the present study, the effect of natural phenomena on Sarpol-e Zahab County was studied by investigating its geology and geomorphology. The results showed that, in addition to the earthquake that habitually affected the city of Sarpol-e Zahab, the hazards of other phenomena are also significant. Recorded horizontal acceleration in the recent earthquake confirmed the high seismicity of Sarpol-e Zahab has.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document