Following a year of in-depth research, the Urban Age Istanbul conference confronts the social, spatial, economic, political and environmental narratives of contemporary urban life. By bringing over 80 experts and civic leaders from over 20 cities in 14 countries, the conference will catalyse an interdisciplinary discussion about a city that lies at the intersection of histories, cultures and continents. Participants include architect Richard Rogers; sociologist Çağlar Keyder; Josef Ackerman, Deutsche Bank; New York transportation commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan; Kemal Derviş, Brookings Institute; political economist Saskia Sassen; planning professor İlhan Tekeli; and sociologist Richard Sennett.
In 2009, the Urban Age focuses on Istanbul and extends its investigations into the links between the social characteristics and the physical form of global cities. Istanbul's strategic location makes it a vital reference for understanding urban trends in South East Europe, the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East. A conference on 4–6 November 2009 will follow a year of research and analysis of the key issues focusing Istanbul's recent growth, including how its transcontinental terrain has established the city at the centre of the Turkish economy.
Almost 40% of Turkey's industrial activity and 50% of the country's total service sector contribute to significant concentrations of wealth, yet high levels of segregation and the proliferation of informal, precarious settlements housing half of Istanbul's residents challenge attempts to manage its urban growth and the effects of climate change across the region. Protecting the city's natural and historical resources, reducing pollution, and balancing quality of life for a population that has doubled in the past 20 years are urgent issues.
Urban Age will explore how Istanbul's evolving polycentric form, shaped as much by its recently extended administrative boundaries, decentralized national policies, increased investment in public transport as well as new commercial and residential developments in outlying enclaves, addresses social inclusion for a culturally diverse population.
In parallel to these activities, the third annual Deutsche Bank Urban Age Award, created to encourage people to take responsibility for their cities and to form new alliances to improve the lives of urban citizens, will recognize a project in the Istanbul metropolitan area. Following an open call for entries and review by an independent jury, the winner of the $100,000 USD award will be announced on 4 November 2009 at a reception inaugurating the Urban Age Istanbul Conference.
Source : http://www.urban-age.net/conferences/istanbul/
About Urban Age Conference :
The principal aim of Urban Age is to shape the thinking and practice of urban leaders and sustainable urban development. This six-year conference series – travelling from New York City, Shanghai, London, Mexico City, Johannesburg, Berlin, Mumbai to Sao Paulo and Istanbul– serves as an ongoing forum about how the city is studied, planned and managed in the 21st century.
The Urban Age operates as a mobile laboratory, testing and sampling the social and physical characteristics of global cities through expert presentations and testimonials, research, site visits, GIS mapping and informal information exchange. Findings from each of the cities are analysed according to regional patterns in an effort to uncover global similarities and differences. The results help policymakers, academics and urban practitioners understand the future development of cities and the processes that sustain them.
Four core themes are the focus of the investigation in each of the six conference cities. These research fields reflect the basic human activities of living, working, playing and moving or what could be summarised as ‘life in the city’.
- Labour market and work place
- Public life and urban space
- Mobility and transport
- Housing and neighbourhoods
In addition, a group of broader, overarching issues representing the governance level is part of the focus of the Urban Age investigation.
- Investment and economic development
- Planning and legal structures
- Sustainability and energy consumption
- Political economy and networking cities
In order to address local and global concerns, urban experts representing each core research theme will lead a team that conducts secondary research in each conference city. Local experts representing the same knowledge areas are the key contributors of presentations at each conference, guaranteeing the important local perspective.
Presentations will utilise knowledge gained from lessons learned ‘on the ground’ and will discuss how policy is responding to the dominant urban trends in the each city. These presentations and subsequent publications will employ different modes of translating information from the two-dimensional geographic scale to the three-dimensional urban design scale, thus facilitating dialogue between academics, policymakers and practitioners.
The three elements put together – secondary research, local presentations and the conference debates will accumulate knowledge and comparative experiences through participation at each conference throughout the two-year period.
A key objective of the Urban Age investigation is to identify what trends and policies are failing to respond to local needs, resulting in the continued propagation of dysfunctional urban areas across the globe.
See also the photo album on Istanbul on : http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/lse.urban.age/UrbanAgeIstanbulPhotoGallery#slideshow/5386862947889699794
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