The Paradigmatic City 2019
Cities and towns have not only become the primary human living space, they also live in the collective memory. Since the late 2000s, more than half of the world’s population lives in urban areas and the figure is estimated to exceed 70 per cent by 2050. As cities grow and transform, the landscape, architecture, people, business, stories and images of cities change. This can create feelings of inaccessibility to the past, and a desire to recreate the physical landscapes of the past. Memory has never been more appealing to all generations. For example, millennials’ nostalgic tendencies are reflected in their social media posts, which puzzle many sociologists. By holding onto the past, how we can more easily sustain life and resources in contemporary cities and move forward into future cities?
The conference aims to explore the transformation of cities by focusing on spatial, design, landscape, literature, art, memory, and socio-economic dimensions. How do cities respond to the challenges that threaten their ability to become viable pillars of sustainable development? What are the characteristics of future cities? How will urban designers, architects and policy makers reconcile the old with the new, the sustainable and the smart?