Evolving Cities

By the year 2050 it is estimated that more than 80% of the population of Europe will be living in or near a city, living an urban lifestyle. Europe’s towns and villages are shrinking, and its larger cities are growing at a phenomenal rate. Consequently, it is becoming increasingly important for us to be able to “reimagine” our cities and communities.

Every city or district of a city is built on a relationship between the city and its people, and the uses people through the ages have made of the city. The city may have been grounded as a marketplace in the Middle Ages, an industrial manufacturing centre from the 1800’s, a place where transport systems meet, a place where people live and commute from and many more. Different ways of organising the city have been necessary through the ages for the city to function.

What’s in it for me?

You’ll become aware of the city's urban form, identify its historical periods, divisions and growth, explore untapped meanings of the buildings and relate them with your personal experience and feelings. You’ll discover that an underground mindset can do wonders for your community.

Are you Medieval?

Every city or district of a city is built on a relationship between the city and its people, and the uses people through the ages have made of the city. The city may have been grounded as a marketplace in the Middle Ages, an industrial manufacturing centre from the 1800’s, a place where transport systems meet, a place where people live and commute from and many more. Different ways of organising the city have been necessary through the ages for the city to function.

What will I learn?

  • Community Engagement
  • Reading the City
  • Analytical skills

What will I need?

Food for thought

Cities are in a constant state of change and flux, forever growing and shifting. In some cities it is easier to see this growth and you can in fact trace the historical development of the city simply by following a line from the centre outwards, like counting the growth rings of a tree.

In most cities it is however more difficult as one historical époque in layered over the previous, leaving plans and buildings from different ages. We can use different historical building styles as a reference to the historical area of a city, but be careful, reality is not always what it seems! A building may have changed many times since its conception. 

We should also be aware that the styles can differ from region to region and country to country depending upon many factors, making it difficult in some cases to use them for an exact way of dating for the casual observer. 

Perhaps interpreting style is best left to the expert?

Get underground!

By completing this challenge, which asks you and your friends to go underground – or a bit crazy, you’ll feel more inspired and motivated to change your community.

Underground or alternative culture is a type of culture that exists outside or on the fringes of mainstream or popular culture, usually under the domain of one or more subcultures. Often classified as alternative cultures, or taken as a whole, the alternative culture. Compare with the more politically charged term, counterculture.

In London, Camden Town is known for its underground culture https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camden_Town

What will I learn? 

  • Community Engagement
  • Teamwork & Interpersonal skills
  • Communication
  • Negotiation

Instructions

Ask two of your friends to join you in this activity

Individually go through the list of 85 Things to do for your neighbourhood 

Pick out your own 10 bests 

Discuss with your friends; differences/similarities?

Decide your common top 5 and make them happen!

Top tip!

This exercise can be used in combination with Module 4: Hardware and Software Divisions of the Cities – all exercises

What will I need?

  • Internet connection
  • Smartphone or other device
  • Courage
  • Two friends

What are your thoughts?

How far do you agree with the following statement?
"I think the best small thing we can do for our neighbourhoods is educate ourselves on the kind of huge changes American cities need to pursue to build their way out of the terrible housing crises most prosperous cities face, divest themselves of auto-dependent infrastructure, improve access to education and job re-training, ruggedize themselves for a changing climate and drop their greenhouse gas emissions to zero in the next couple decades. Almost everything else is window dressing." — Alex Steffen, writer, speaker, planetary futurist, The Heroic Future

Reading a Building

This meeting with the shapes and forms of materials of a building often helps create an impression of a city. 

We read the shapes, forms, colours, and materials around us; it is inherent in us; we simply cannot avoid reading them. At close range, the forms and shapes, the materials of the city give a sense of structure, presence, and variation. Buildings create a focus point and can be pleasant for the eye. 

Can you describe a building in words for somebody who has never seen it?

What will I learn? 

  • Community Engagement
  • Analytical skills
  • Imagination
  • Inspiration
  • Communication
  • Teamwork

Instructions

  1. Ask a friend to join you in this activity.
  2. Take a walk along your home street, each of you choosing one building 
  3. Do the exercises:

    1. All buildings can be appreciated in terms of their form and content independent of its age or historical” value”. Therefore, a good idea is to start by observing and describing the physical features and characteristics of the building and then interrogate its meaning, the architect’s intentions, and most importantly how the building makes you feel. 

    2. Identify some basic information. For example, determine its material, identify the builder / architect, when it was built, and the style. Observe the scale and form. 

    3. Do a little “homework”. If a building catches your eye, spend a few minutes to search on the internet or read a book about the local area, or even speak with others like experts e.g., the city/town/village museum’s team or friends interested in architecture. Research and discussion can deepen your appreciation. 

    4. Recognize your feelings about the specific building. How does it evoke your feelings? Do you feel sad, happy, curious, religious, or angry or….? 

    5. Acknowledge what you like and don’t like about the building to better understand it. If you don’t like a certain style, don’t worry, there is something out there that pleases you! 

    6. Relate what you see to your own life, or to other buildings you have experienced. Draw on your memory and past experiences and make associations. How this specific building can be related to you and your life? 

    7. Think about the “meaning” of the building. Open your mind and think beyond our prejudice. Old = good, modern = bad. Is it an allegory? Is there a hidden message? Does it tell a story? Is it abstract? Reading the texts of the building. 

    8. You can also look for other buildings by the same architect or buildings in the same genre by other architects, or even search for the architect’s era and personal life. 

    9. Let buildings release your imagination!

  4. Describe the building in words based on the exercises for your friend who has never seen it.
  5. What did you think, how did you feel?

What will I need?

  • Internet connection
  • Smartphone or other device
  • A friend
  • Imagination

What are your thoughts?

Think about the similarities you had in your answers with your friend. What were the similarities? Why?
To what extent was it beneficial to you to listen to other perspectives/inputs?
What did you learn about yourself?
Would you do the exercise again? Why? Why not?

 

Reading the City

We can see the physical divisions of the city.  But can we “read” them?

Physical divisions are caused by the geographical make-up of the city, a river, a factory area, or a railway line. The city is divided physically into public space, parks, roads, market squares and private space, private gardens, courtyards.

It may be difficult to get an overview of a city as many cities have grown layer by layer with different and sometimes conflicting ideas of city planning. The richness of movement and life can be confusing for the senses. 

There is however in every city a set of clear patterns and elements that every city has, that help us understand how it is put together. 

What does your city look like?

What will I learn?

  • Community Engagement
  • Predict the future
  • Map knowledge
  • Digital skills

Instructions

- Read the text The elements and divisions of the city
- For inspiration look at City plans 
- Now look at your community or city from a bird's eye view by using Google Maps
- Find a map showing your city 100 years ago
- Reflect on and answer the following questions:

  1. What does it look like in terms of regular - irregular?
  2. What does it look like in terms of well-planned - spontaneous?
  3. Any other specific shape?
  4. Why?
  5. Look at the historical map/city plan and today’s map? What happened to the shape of the local community/city in the time between?
  6. Why?

    Try to imagine what your city will look like in 2050!

Top tip!

This exercise can be used in combination with Module 4: Hardware and Software Divisions of the Cities – all exercises

What will I need?

  • Internet connection
  • Smartphone or other device
  • Google maps
  • A map showing your city 100 years ago

What are your thoughts?

What does your city look like today, where do people live, work and play?  How is this dictated by the physical elements of the city?

The physical divisions of the city exist in combination with the sub-conscious divisions; Is there still a place of worship, a library, a post office, a bank, a pub, or bar in every quarter? Are the small local shops still functioning?

Does everyone take the car to the shopping mall and has the internet changed our cities forever?