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Newsletter | Issue 8: Summer 2010
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Welcome to LSE Cities!
LSE Cities is an international centre that carries out research, education, outreach and advisory activities in the urban field. The recently established centre builds
on the interdisciplinary work of the Urban Age, extending its partnership with Deutsche Bank's Alfred Herrhausen Society for a further five-year period, and incorporates the graduate education
branch of the successful Cities Programme.
Invitation requests are open for the Chicago Metro Summit: Delivering the Next Economy, a conference co-organised with the Washington based Brookings Institution in December 2010. Research for the conference on the Next Urban Economy continues in a collaboration with the Centre for the Analysis of Social Exclusion (CASE) at the LSE. And LSE Cities is coordinating two chapters in UNEP's upcoming report on the Green Economy.
The Deutsche Bank Urban Age Award continues in 2010 with a focus on urban innovation in Mexico City. Over 190 submissions were received by the deadline of 28 May 2010 with the announcement in Mexico City this July.
The ‘Cities and the Environment’ lecture series, in collaboration with the Ove Arup Foundation, hosted the former Mayor of Copenhagen Ritt Bjerregaard to discuss the Copenhagen Climate Plan.
The Urban Age Programme inaugurates two lecture series. ‘Shaping Cities’ examines the complexity of architectural practice in the face of exponential urbanism. We heard from architects Rahul Mehrotra and Hashim Sarkis who will be followed by David Chipperfield in the autumn.
‘Running Cities’ begins the interrogation of innovative governance in cities around the world with the Mayor of Mexico City, Marcelo Ebrard. And we end our lectures for the term with Stephen Graham launching his new book ‘Cities Under Siege: The New Military Urbanism’.
We look forward to hearing from you as we continue our investigation into the future of cities.
City spotlight
Wonder what's happened since the conference? Keep up to date on Urban Age cities here.
For more updates, check out The Global Urbanist or Planetizen
Urban Age Chicago Summit: delivering the next economy, 6-8 December 2010
The two-day conference will examine the changing economic landscape of cities and their metropolitan regions in the US and internationally, to understand how cities are responding to economic instability and how they are harnessing the potential of the green economy to create jobs and support growth. With the participation of civic leaders, at an urban and national scale, and the presentation of new reserarch by the Brookings Institution and the London School of Economics, the conference will identify a road-map to create and sustain low-carbon, opportunity-rich and export-orientated urban economies in a liveable urban environment. Read more.
If you would like to express your interest in receiving an invitation for the Chicago Metro Summit please visit our invitation request page.
7 June: Cities Under Siege: The New Military Urbanism
Cities have become the new battleground of our increasingly urban world. From the slums of the global South to the wealthy financial centres of the West, Cities Under Siege traces how political violence now operates through the sites, spaces, infrastructures and symbols of the world's rapidly expanding metropolitan areas. Read more.
Deutsche Bank Urban Age award Mexico City 2010
The Deutsche Bank Urban Age Award continues in 2010 with a focus on urban innovation in Mexico City. Over 190 submissions were received by the deadline of 28 May 2010. They will be analysed by the international jury later this month. The award ceremony will take place at the end of July 2010. Read more: English | Español.
LSE Cities Past Events
'Requiem for Detroit?' producer Roger Graef joined a panel including Richard Sennett, Bruce Katz, Stuart Gulliver and Detroit Principal Asenath Andrews to discuss the future of post-industrial cities. Representatives from the UK's three major parties convened at LSE Cities for a hustings debate on cities in the UK, followed by a packed house for a screening of the third Prime Ministerial debate. LSE Cities Director Ricky Burdett chaired 'Cities and the Public Realm', part of the conference on Richard Sennett: The Sociology of Public Life. All of LSE Cities past events, including video and audio, can be accessed here.
Shaping Cities Urban Age Public Lecture Series
Architects are increasingly called into debates about environmental and social sustainability, governance, and social inequality. “Shaping Cities” is an Urban Age public lecture series organised by LSE Cities and the Alfred Herrhausen Society that identifies the growing complexity of architectural practice in relation to the challenges of exponential urbanism. Rahul Mehrotra spoke on 18 May about the kinetic city of Mumbai. Hashim Sarkis discussed the architecture and urbanism of Beirut on 25 May. Future lectures include Sir David Chipperfield.
The Next Urban Economy
The Next Urban Economy is a joint research project investigating how the recent recession has affected the trajectory of economic and social prosperity of EU and US cities and their regions. In partnership with the Brookings Institution, Washington D.C. and the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion (CASE), LSE. Read more.
- Lead researcher Andrea Colantonio interviewed in Italy's financial newspaper - Il Sole 24 Ore and for Planning resource
UNEP Green Economy Report
As coordinating authors for two chapters in the forthcoming UNEP report on 'The Green Economy' led by Pavan Sukhdev, LSE Cities has worked with an international collaboration of authors and institutions. Chapters include 'Sustainable Cities' and 'Green Buildings'. The report is due to be published in late 2010.
- For a full preview of the report, click here
- Pavan Sukhdev in Guardian on economics of nature
Energy and urban morphology
Partnered with the European Institute for Energy Research, Karlsruhe University, this joint research initiative looks at the relationship between urban morphologies and their impact with regard to heat energy demand. In its first phase, the study identified and analysed 25 sample neighbourhoods in each of four target cities – London, Paris, Berlin and Istanbul – at a scale of 500 by 500 metres. Future cities include Milan and Rio de Janeiro. Read more.
The Randstad – SouthEast England Research and Seminar Series
The project conducts a comparative investigation into the spatial and socio-economic differences between these two metro-regions – the polycentric Randstad and the monocentric London-SE England. Themes covered will include: the relationship between where people live and work; people and green spaces; and a review of urban forms that are most conducive to energy efficiency and micro/renewable generation. Read more.
Home, Migration and the City: New Narratives, New Methodologies
Dr. Ayona Datta, from the Cities Programme, chairs this upcoming conference from 6-10 August 2010 in Linkoping, Sweden. Full details about the conference and how to register can be found here. Deadline for registration is 6 July 2010.
Urban@LSE Graduate Students workshop
LSE Cities and the Teaching and Learning Centre at LSE sponsored this inaugural workshop bringing masters and PhD level students working on urban issues from a diverse range of disciplines together to discuss themes of overlap and divergence. Fostering interdisciplinary dialogue, the group plans to hold a series of salons and workshops in the coming year.
Cities Programme updates
Dr Ayona Datta has recently been awarded the ESRC-ICSSR India-UK Scholar Exchange Award in 2009-2010. She will be based in Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai from July-September 2010.
Professor David Frisby, who convened and taught on the Foundations of Urban Studies course which has been a vital part of the MSc in City Design and Social Science, retired at the end of 2009. He will be missed by all and we wish him a happy retirement.
PhD candidate Torsten Schroeder has been appointed Associate Lecturer by the University of the Arts London – Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design.
Dr Fran Tonkiss was Visiting Professor on the International Master’s in Sustainable Urban Design at Lund University, Sweden in September - October 2009.
Professor Robert Tavernor wrote the introduction for a new translation of Vitruvius: On Architecture published by Penguin Classics and is editing a special issue on London for a new academic journal from Elsevier: City, Culture and Society, which will include joint essays by Cities Programme PhD students and LSE academics.
Recent graduate Dr Suzanne Hall has been awarded one of the Robert McKenzie Prizes, offered in memory of the late Professor Robert McKenzie, for outstanding performance in an MSc/MPhil/PhD degree programme in the 2008/2009 academic session.
Visiting Fellow Professor Aysegul Baykan published ‘Politics and culture in the making of public space: Taksim Square 1 May 1977, Istanbul’ in Planning Perspectives Vol 25, No. 1, January 2010.
Philipp Rode, Executive Director of LSE Cities, has been named the first Ove Arup Foudation Fellow. The Ove Arup Foundation has pledged a very generous gift of £105,000 to the Cities Programme over the next three years, which will fund specialist teaching and the annual MSc field trip to some of the world’s fastest-growing conurbations.
The latest issue of Cities News, the Cities Programme biannual online newsletter, will come out at the beginning of July. For more information on the Cities Programme click here.
LSE Cities holds first Board meeting
The LSE Cities Governing Board met for the first time to discuss the new research centre. Members include Rahul Mehrotra, Harvard; Nick Stern, LSE; Wolfgang Nowak, Alfred Herrhausen Society; Ricky Burdett, LSE Cities; Sarah Worthington, LSE; Ute Weiland, Alfred Herrhausen Society; and Philipp Rode, LSE Cities.
Smarter cities bring blueprint for sustainable development
LSE Cities featured in the Times' Smart Cities supplement. Director Ricky Burdett writes about the potential of the city to improve people's lives in the face of changing urbanisation patterns due to climate change. Read more.
Financial Times ‘The heart of the city’
Financial Times special report on the Future of Cities features Ricky Burdett's 'The Heart of the City'. Read more.
BBC In our Time: The History of the City
Ricky Burdett 'In our Time: The History of the City Part 2' on BBC Radio 4. Listen to the programme.
The Role of Cities in a Green Economy
Philipp Rode presented at the Salzburg Congress on Urban Planning and Development on "The Role of Cities in a Green Economy".
Integrated Transport in London, Berlin and New York
Philipp Rode to speak at the Urban Transport Congress India 2010 on "Integrated transport in London, Berlin and New York".
The Endless City: la ville sans fin
Urban Age advisor Sophie Body-Gendrot to speak about "The Endless City : la ville sans fin", in Paris on 14 June. Read more.
Andrea Colantonio on community regeneration
LSE Cities researcher Andrea Colantonio interviewed by Planning Ressource on community regeneration. Read here.
Transit metropolis, Ex-Berliner
Philipp Rode interviewed about Berlin's transport network: read here.
The sociology of public life - a conference on Richard Sennett's work
LSE Cities director Ricky Burdett chaired the "Cities and the public realm" panel as part of the conference "The sociology of public life" on the themes explored in Richard Sennett's writing and their implications today. Read a review here.
Ricky Burdett on sustainable architecture
Sustainable architecture at London 2012 Olympics and Milano 2015 Expo. Ricky Burdett interviewed (Italian).
50th anniversary of the inauguration of Brasilia
Ricky Burdett was interviewed on BBC Newshour on 21 April about the 50th Anniversary of the inauguration of Brasilia.
The next urban economy
LSE Cities' Andrea Colantonio was interviewed on The Next Urban Economy project in Italy's financial newspaper - "Il Sole 24 ore".