Conference: CITIZENS AND CITY MAKING
Conference: 22.05. - 23. 05.2015 // 10 a.m. - 7 p.m. // Belgrade Cultural Centre
During the tenth jubilee Belgrade International Architecture Week an International Conference CITIZENS AND CITY MAKING will be held.
Conference CITIZENS AND CITY MAKING resumes the ten-year long effort of the Belgrade International Architecture Week to bring together designers, architects, urban planners, public and civil administrators, citizens, and organizations of civil society in the process of ongoing improvement of the urban environment. Ongoing research and professional practice in the field of socially responsible urban development, citizens’ participation, collaborative city making, urban activism and emancipating architecture will be presented by different speakers and panel participants.
The widening global gap between the mainstream protocols of city making and citizens’ demands for the right to the city has exposed urban development as a predatory process that renders the city a trading asset. The strictly financial interest of urban developers demands that they operate outside of any realm that can be scrutinized by public agencies or the organizations of civil society, adopting urban regulations to their visions. Given the growing economic crises, public administration that has been increasingly oriented toward private financial resources is rather meeting their demands than promoting social and cultural values and working in the public interest. Such a business partnership between private developers and public administration tends to deregulate city making and create conditions for uneven and unsustainable urban growth. Professionals historically capable of coordinating processes of urban development – urban planners, architects, and urban designers – have been marginalized and play no substantial role in the decision making processes. It could be argued that some willingly support the idea that the city is a playground for capital investment and growth; others are still tied to the humanistic foundations of their disciplines, and committed to public good idealism. Finally, a growing number believes that the only opportunity left to rebuild their professional influence lays in working together with citizens and take active part in their claim for the right to the city. Working collaboratively through processes of co-designing and co-creation, they propose that therein lays a chance to re-establish human perspective on city making.
Outcomes of the conference will serve as an introduction to the formulation of the citizens’ orientated urban development strategies, as academic lineage and support to emerging methods of citizens’ participation and collaboration in the city making. Thus the proposed theme is expected to become a valuable resource for everyone interested in or involved with the city.
Presentations are held by: Angelika Fitz (Weltstadt, Vienna), Juan Antonio Chacon Gragera (Zuloark, Madrid/Berlin), Andreas Rumpfhuber (Expanded Design, Vienna), Mirjana Milanović (Urban Planning and Sustainability Department Amsterdam), Engelbert Lütke Daldrup (State Secretary for Building and Housing, Berlin) Thomas Dillinger (TU Wien), Mauro Gil-Fournier Esquerra (Estudio SIC | VIC, Madrid), Lydia Wissa (The Vienna local renewal offi ces, Vienna), Ana Džokić and Marc Neelen (STEALTH.unlimited, Rotterdam/Belgrade), Elke Krasny (Wien Academy of Fine Art, Vienna), Doina Petrescu and Constantin Petcou (Atelier d’ Architecture Autog.re., Paris), Matthias Böttger (Raumtaktik/DAZ, Berlin), Zef Hemel (University of Amsterdam/Amsterdam Economic Board), Miodrag Mitrašinović (Parsons The New School of Design, New York)
The conference is supported by the EUNIC cluster Serbia Members: Austrian Cultural Forum, Goethe Institut Belgrade, French Institute in Serbia, as well as Embassy of the Kingdom of Spain and Embassy of the United States of America in Republic of Serbia.
Program of the Conference CITIZENS AND CITY MAKING
BINA - Belgrade International Architecture Week