by Marwa Al-Sabouni This important paper was first published as part of the Journal of Biourbanism Volume V, 1&2/2016 devoted to the epistemology of design (pp. 81–97). We share it separately from that 310-page volume, wishing for a discussion on the specific problems presented by the Author. ABSTRACT: We live in a world that suffers from […] read more
by Sara Bissen I. 1947, A “Day of Reckoning”—The Central Planning Board of the City of Newark, New Jersey Addresses the Citizens of Newark[1] Newark’s 1947 Master Plan, completed after a decade of population decline (1930–1940) and a decrease in real estate value, noted a “downward trend” that “must be arrested by undertaking privately financed large […] read more
by Sinan Logie “Naturally, we were all there,—old Qwfwq said,—where else could we have been? Nobody knew then that there could be space. Or time either: what use did we have for time, packed in there like sardines? I say ‘packed like sardines,’ using a literary image: in reality there wasn’t even space to pack […] read more
by Laura Cipollini I’d like to share my thoughts on some issues that I consider to be fundamental to effectively intervene on topics that can no longer be postponed. About 10 years ago, following my research in Sarajevo, the “Jerusalem of the Balkans”, I decided to use the reflections that emerged from that experience in […] read more
by Jaroslav Biolek We are a community of people, working together under the name of PARK (Pozitivní Akce Re-Kultivace – Positive Action of Re-Cultivation), who are interested in the quality of public space and its use. Our general goal is to support and to develop civic participation which form the public space and may improve the […] read more
by Stefano Serafini “What if, instead of breaking them, the design of cities could naturally feed social ties? There must be a way for urban planners to make cities more human-centred and livable, by focusing on how the built environment affects sociality.” ABSTRACT The International Society of Biourbanism (ISB) is organizing a Summer school in […] read more
by Aris Anagnostopoulos In anticipation of the International Biourbanism Workshop “Socio-Spatial Transformations Under The State Of Emergency” this August in Heraklion Crete we republish here Picturing Public Space: Ethnicity and Gender in Picture Postcards of Iraklio, Crete, at the Beginning of the 20th Century (in Eckehard Pistrick, Nicola Scaldaferri and Gretel Schwörer (eds), Audiovisual Media and Identity […] read more
by Eric Hunting Paracity is a new project of Marco Casagrande which promises to be one of the first full scale demonstrations of a practical peer-to-peer urbanism. Taking advantage of a unique situation on the Danshui River Island in Taipei, Paracity explores a notion of positive urban parasitism, using a novel, freely adaptive, modular, volumetric […] read more
by Linley Lutton A compelling account of community disempowerment and poor city planning The story of Elizabeth Quay in Perth, Western Australia needs telling. Perth is a relatively young coastal city of 1.7 million people. It has a Mediterranean climate, an easy-going lifestyle and a wonderful large central river. The city was assaulted by […] read more
by Nikos Salingaros and Michael Mehaffy How Modernist Fundamentalism degrades the human and natural environment Many research studies show a remarkable divergence between the way architects see their work and the way non-architects do — to such a degree that it is not uncommon to hear ordinary people wondering aloud how it is that architects, […] read more