Research
The City Taking the Commons to Heart
By Dirk Holemans (*) The Belgian city of Ghent plays host to a broad range of projects and initiatives around the commons. But it has yet to adopt a model which really places a commons-focused approach and logic at the core of its institutions and processes. Recent work undertaken by experts on the commons provides […] read more
Mathematicians Explore Mirror Link Between Two Geometric Worlds
by Kevin Hartnett Decades after physicists happened upon a stunning mathematical coincidence, researchers are getting close to understanding the link between two seemingly unrelated geometric universes. Twenty-seven years ago, a group of physicists made an accidental discovery that flipped mathematics on its head. The physicists were trying to work out the details of string […] read more
The Simple Algorithm That Ants Use to Build Bridges
by Kevin Hartnett Even with no one in charge, army ants work collectively to build bridges out of their bodies. New research reveals the simple rules that lead to such complex group behavior. Army ants form colonies of millions yet have no permanent home. They march through the jungle each night in search of new […] read more
The «Law of Requisite Variety» and the Built Environment
by Nikos Salingaros This paper has been originally published in: Journal of Biourbanism JBU, IV Nos. 1&2 (2015) pages 47-52. ABSTRACT: Simple yet powerful rules that govern complex systems shed light on human environments. Built environments that evolve freely over time develop a working complexity that is characteristic of both nature and traditional urban fabric. A […] read more
Education
Healing the Neoliberal Urban Cancer: The 53rd IMCL Conference.
by Stefano Serafini Following the theme of Pope Francis’ Encyclical Laudato si’, the 53rd International Making Cities Livable Conference, on Caring for Our Common Home: Sustainable, Healthy, Just Cities and Settlements will take place at the Pontificia Università Urbaniana, in Vatican City, June 13-17. Neoliberal urban development is cancerous, killing a city’s social, economic and […] read more
Making the Garden
by Christopher Alexander It has taken me almost fifty years to understand fully that there is a necessary connection between God and architecture, and that this connection is, in part, empirically verifiable. Further, I have come to the view that the sacredness of the physical world—and the potential of the physical world for sacredness—provides a […] read more
