The contemporary world is formed by almost two hundred states that are represented through entities defined as “capital cities.” Unitary states usually have one capital city while federal states may have several ones, organized according to an administrative and symbolic hierarchy. Since the 1850s a number of cities, designated as or transformed into capitals increased dramatically following the formation of nation-states and the decolonization process. Canberra, New Delhi, Chandigarh, and Brasília are the most known examples, but many other capital cities have been designed or built in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. In the twenty-first century transformation and re-dislocation of capital cities did not become a thing of past: recently, Naypyidaw replaced Yangon as the capital of Myanmar. Contrary to the predictions, globalization did not contribute to a decay of capital cities either: various economic and demographic data demonstrate that they still are the most vibrant, cultured, and diverse spaces of their respective states. A diversity of definitions and approaches towards capital cities suggest that they do not have immutable characteristics; they are neither determined by a given political system, nor have a fixed administrative status. Rather they manifest entangled relationships between urban spaces, political intentions, and social projects.

What makes a city a capital? How did the models of “capitality” and representations of power and national identity change or evolve in last two centuries? Does the postcolonial condition necessarily invoke a reinvention or a transformation of a capital city? Besides political and administrative functions, what are the urban planning elements mostly characterizing a capital city? What are the design principles and the most frequent urban planning models for the elaboration of capital cities in last one hundred and fifty years? Through an interdisciplinary and cross-cultural analysis we propose to rethink architectural, political, and intellectual projects of the societies who established the new and/or transform the existant capital cities in order to understand how their aspirations, utopias, and political compromises were reflected in the elaboration of capital cities and how these were translated into their forms and spatial design. This panel aspires to examine both the urban design, the architectural and urban character of capital cities, but also the intricate political, economic, and social motivations that bring them into being. We welcome junior and senior scholars working in various disciplines and geographic areas (not limited to Europe) to submit proposals for papers in English or in French through the official site of the EAUH.

Conference organizers:

• Dunia Mittner (Italy) - University of Padua, Fabrizio Paone (Italy) - Polytechnic University of Turin,
• Nari Shelekpayev (Canada) - Université de Montréal, contact email: nari.shelekpayev[at]umontreal.ca