2nd Urbanism at Borders Global Conference

The multifaceted digital and economic divides are transmuting our understanding of the relationship between socio-economic orders and challenge the existence of the territoriality. The straight line that connects two points in the territory is at the same time the optimization of resources and the cause of the crisis of any pre-existent territorial syntaxis (Farinelli, 2007). To comprehend what befalls on the boundaries and peripheries of these straight lines we need a change of scale: to look for the -often hidden- relations between different fragments of the territory, the city, of its citizens.

The hidden relations of this territoriality comprise thresholds, and are ‘places’ in themselves, overwhelmed with changing meanings, configurations and positions in very rapid periods of time; occasionally losing their inherent meaning. At the same time, the identity of boundaries between social, cultural and ethnic groups are dynamic, momentary and offer a different kind of borders inside our built environment which need to be analysed.

Concurrently, a (city)place without polarities is a place(city) without competitions — society contests against smaller denominators of other social entrants by manifesting socio-economic gaps and urban voids. The societal contests generate fragmentations that encroach the equilibrium locally as well as the country-wide distribution of wealth and development. Ethnicity is a historical formation, so do the emerging political and economic transformations that prompt a range of eccentricities in urban conditions. Economic dynamics are a powerful shaper of urban form and society. Policies as political tools are instrumental in mediating between various urban eccentricities.

In the upcoming 2nd Urbanism at Borders Global Conference in Malaga 2019, we do not only aim to debate on the various existing realities where these polarities happen but also aim to advance our knowledge through various researches capable of defining these eccentricities, questioning the bottom-up activism, critically reviewed the maverick governmental policies, or of any other interventionist urban theories. Also, if grounded in architecture and urbanism practices, the conference will look for radical proposals related to multidisciplinary actions in the fields of art, activism, human rights, law, amongst others.

Sub-themes:

A.- Society-led borders

  • Ethnography of Social borders
  • Blurring borders of socio-economic divisions
  • Ethnicity, social capital and borders 

B.- Economy-led borders

  • Competitions of New economy of GLOCAL and social polarities 
  • Social divisions of labour and neighbourhood clusters
  • Economic downturn, social displacement and borders of urban voids

C.- Policy-led borders

  • City planning, urban intervention and physical segregation
  • Staggering planning policies, developmental incoherence and urban borders
  • Struggle of people-policy and urban scars 

After the first conference Urbanism at borders held at Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, the event in Malaga will be touching on these issues as well as invites other relevant issues to discuss.