Thanks to Lina and René!
Mar 19, 2009
Post seminar on post industrial ...
Uploaded some photographs from Brussels and our field trip onto my Flickr page. It would be great if more of us shared their better shots.
Mar 10, 2009
Cristian MIHU - How to write documentaries about post-industrial space
The urban and architectural industrial heritage in the post-socialist European countries are scratched on one hand by the indifference, even hostility of post-communist societies which ignore and reject in-corpore their own recent past, and, on the other hand, by the rapacity of the real estate developers, as well as by the political view which often considers post-industrial space only through its capacity of generating economical profit.
Although quite often subject of public debates about the future of post-industrial urban space - especially in post-socialist countries after their European integration - this concerns haven’t been shared to a broader public and did not mark relevant reconsiderations of the decision-makers’ attitude. Therefore, the documentary film might be seen - everywhere in Europe - as a very efficient way of increasing awareness, generating attitude and preoccupations at a larger public level.
But in what extent might such documentaries been made by people who are not professionals of film industry or television? The development of digital technologies allows nowadays a general access to the required film equipment and consequently, allows shooting at prices that were inconceivable ten or fifteen years ago. But even if today more films are made then several years ago, a lot of them are totally or at least partially uninteresting, un-structured, boring, not enough powerful so that they don’t help at all ideas or debates they are trying to serve.
Our presentation aims to underline the importance of the film script for the final quality of any filmed material. Moreover, it intends to present the main dramatic principles of writing for film in general and for documentary in particular, starting from basic concepts as story, structure, plot, premise, and conflict.
...............
Yves Lavandier: „La dramaturgie”, Ed. Le Clown et l’Enfant, Cergy, 1997
Irwin R. Blacker: „The Elements Of Screenwriting”, Macmillan, New York, 1996
Michael Hauge: „Writing Screenplays That Sell”, HarperPerennial, New York, 1991
Although quite often subject of public debates about the future of post-industrial urban space - especially in post-socialist countries after their European integration - this concerns haven’t been shared to a broader public and did not mark relevant reconsiderations of the decision-makers’ attitude. Therefore, the documentary film might be seen - everywhere in Europe - as a very efficient way of increasing awareness, generating attitude and preoccupations at a larger public level.
But in what extent might such documentaries been made by people who are not professionals of film industry or television? The development of digital technologies allows nowadays a general access to the required film equipment and consequently, allows shooting at prices that were inconceivable ten or fifteen years ago. But even if today more films are made then several years ago, a lot of them are totally or at least partially uninteresting, un-structured, boring, not enough powerful so that they don’t help at all ideas or debates they are trying to serve.
Our presentation aims to underline the importance of the film script for the final quality of any filmed material. Moreover, it intends to present the main dramatic principles of writing for film in general and for documentary in particular, starting from basic concepts as story, structure, plot, premise, and conflict.
...............
Yves Lavandier: „La dramaturgie”, Ed. Le Clown et l’Enfant, Cergy, 1997
Irwin R. Blacker: „The Elements Of Screenwriting”, Macmillan, New York, 1996
Michael Hauge: „Writing Screenplays That Sell”, HarperPerennial, New York, 1991
Anneke INGWERSEN - Luftschlösser, Ivory Towers and “Doorzonhuisen”…
Second try, because of the bad letter:
In my Fine Art I focus on the combination of the experience of public space and the connotations of optics. Alienation of spaces by shadow - light play is the central theme in my art and my research. By this the aspects of Space and Optics in term of physical experiences are getting together. Especially the possibilities of misguiding the viewer during the process of visual perception grab my attention.
Existing architecture and the structure of public spaces are the starting point for an artistic process. I combine the research about the history of a place with the process of imagination and drafting Fine Art works. This culminates in short videos, light-installations and series of photography’s.
In Brussels I will present this artistic research by some art projects concerning the use of public space realized by myself and others.
In 2007, I concentrated on the psychological Gaze. The starting point was the special Dutch kind of terrace house, the ‘Doorzonhuis’, where the sun can shine through, from the front directly to the back and so does the gaze. During that time I made the video “Leyla in Doorzonland”, where the slightly voyeuristic character Leyla gets a look in the house of the neighbours. It struck me that voyeurism is facilitated by the structure of architecture.
In 2008, my fascination for the philosophical concept of “Panoptism” as used by Michel Foucault resulted in the light-installation “Secret Room”. The term “Panopticum” was used both for the famous “freakshow’s” allover Europe during the last centuries and for the special kind of architecture for a prison introduced by Bentheim, in which the situation of the ‘seeing - it - all’ was created. My different interests came together: the power of the gaze of the other; the human behavior in public space; architecture and shadow play.
‘The concept of Strangeness and Recognition in Art and Philosophy, The Artist’s view on Migration and Alienation’ was the topic of my thesis paper, during the graduation from BA Of Fine Arts. Using P. Leary’s concept of “Strangeness and Recognition” on the street as an interface of meeting and judging, I take photography’s in urban spaces, documenting people and their interactions, f.e. for the book Moskow, in 2006.
I will finish the lecture with an insight into the incomplete process of “Man on the Hill”, exemplary for my long during interest in the political and corporate changes of 1989 in Europe and what that did with my imagination.
Anneke Ingwersen
Castle-In-The-Air, Russia
"Secret Room", 2007
"Panopticum", 2008
"Moskow", book with photography's. 2006
"Man On The Hill", 2006-now
Mar 9, 2009
Hana DAŇKOVÁ - Honza
Honza is miner from Sokolov´s brown-coal mine named "Marie Majerova" after czech working-class writer.
He spent almost his whole life as employee in mines of Sokolov. After year 89´ he tried to switch job and worked in newly grown-up pubs, bars and clubs in mountain area of Krusne hory. Unfortunately, he didn´t succeed to keep the job, while the working conditions in many of clubs and bars focusing on German clients were too tough for him to accept.
After few year, he returned to "Marie Majerova". He is now 53, expecting his retirement in two years. What is he about to do after his retirement, he doesn´t even want to guess. "I spent almost my whole life working here, in mine, and I already know, I cannot do any other job. All my friends are here. I go crazy sitting at home, especially in this city. Appart from job, it doesn´t offer anything."
His city, like many others in this area, were built for workers and their structure didn´t count with people who live different lifes than working ones - pensioners, children, youngsters, disabled people....
Stories of people living in cities can be noted down in many ways, using numbers of media. Space can be parabolized by (motion) picture, drawings, graphics or sound recording. I have chosen the last one.
http://eldar.cz/jitro
Mar 7, 2009
Sylwia Strebska - Kamionek
Kamionek nowadays is a part of Praga Południe district of Warsaw. It has mainly postindustrail areas, former worker’s living areas and old, historical tenement houses. In XI century it was a small village called Kamion. In XIX century it developed rapidly with manufactures and in 1889 it became a part of Warsaw. In
1938 Kamionek had more than 40 industrial plants and factories and became a big industrail district.
Surprisingly that part of the city was not as distroyed as the rest of Warsaw during the 2nd World War. The huge problems of this part of the city started after economical and political changes of 90-ties. Many of factories had bancrupted and people lost their jobs. The key social problems of Kamionek are nowadays:
social stratification, unemployment, marginalization of the poor, pathologies – crimes, alcoholism, lack of social integrity. Unfortunately the heritage of the area is in most of cases devastated. Industrial buildings are being torn down to be replaced by modern ones – especially the living appartments.
At the moment the plans created by the city government to protect and revitalize abandoned industrial historical and socialist complexes and old houses seems to be only on paper. There are many examples of recent demolition of former factories in this area, which were declared as a historical industrial buildings. The area portrays the architectural mess, neglectness and “the moon landscape”. The Warsaw School of Social Sciences and Humanities or the building of the District Court are worth mention as good examples of renovating and adapting the former industrial plants.
The Warsaw School of Social Sciences and Humanities (Szkoła Wyższa Psychologii Społecznej, SWPS) was founded in 1996. In December 1999, SWPS purchased the former office building and industrial facilities of an electrical device plant on Chodakowska Street. Work on renovating and adapting the premises was launched in January 2001. In October, a ceremony inaugurating the new academic year and SWPS's fifth anniversary was already held in the newly remodelled building.
Mar 6, 2009
Gruia BĂDESCU- Steel-Town Makeover: Evaluating Urban Regeneration Policy in Sheffield and Bilbao
When one of the songs topping the US charts is about unemployment and disillusion in a steel-factory town, we may imply that society is experiencing some deep changes. Indeed, Billy Joel’s 1982 ‘Allentown’ described a situation that became all-too familiar in the early 1980s: the rapid decline of North American and European industrial towns. As the world recession deepened and manufacturing production moved eastward and southward, industrial towns experienced a severe loss of jobs, social disgruntlement, and population shifts. However, we may find today that many of these cities have reinvented themselves through programmes of regeneration, with a variable degree of success. I will present in Brussels a comparison of two case studies that were deemed “successful” urban regeneration schemes: the internationally renowned case of Bilbao, and one of the English responses- the city of Sheffield.
The cities share an industrial past of being important steel producers. In order to solve the problems created by the loss of industry, they both used a cultural policy focused on iconic architecture and city branding. Bilbao was one of the initiators of the trend in contemporary city-making that asked “what can the cultural bring to the economic” (Garcia, 2004), and Sheffield was one of the followers. However, the main question to be asked is how can this type of cultural policy achieve the goals of urban regeneration? Were these strategies successful or do we have here what David Harvey referred to as a “carnival mask”, which takes the attention away from the real problems of the city?
Bibliography:
Cadell, C; Falk, N and King, F (2008) Regeneration in European cities: Making connections, Bristol: Policy Press.
Crouch, C and Scott Hill, M (2004) Regeneration in Sheffield: From council dominance to partnership. Ch. 11 in eds. Crouch, C, Trigilia, C, et al. Changing Governance of Local Economies, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Garcia, B (2004) ‘Cultural policy and urban regeneration in Western European cities: lessons from experience, prospects for the future’ Local Economy, Volume 19 (4), pp. 312-326.
Gomez, M (1998) ‘Reflective images: the case of urban regeneration in Glasgow and Bilbao’ International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Volume 22 (1), pp. 106-121.
Holmes, K and Beebanjan, Y (2006) ‘City centre masterplanning and cultural spaces: A case study of Sheffield’ Journal of Retail and Leisure Property, Volume 6, pp. 29-46.
Plaza, B (2006) ‘The return on investment of the Guggenheim museum Bilbao’ International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Volume 30 (2), pp. 452-467.
Plöger, J (2007) Bilbao city report, Case report 43, LSE, CASE
Power, A; Plöger, A and Winkler, A (2008) Transforming cities across Europe: An interim report on progress and problems, Case report 49 LSE, CASE.
Rodriguez, A; Martinez, E and Guenaga, G (2001) ‘Uneven redevelopment: New urban policies and socio-spatial fragmentation in Metropolitan Bilbao’ European Urban and Regional Studies, Volume 8(2), pp. 161-178.
Vicario, L and Martinez Monje, PM (2003) ‘Another ‘Guggenheim effect’? The generation of a possible gentrifiable neighbourhood in Bilbao’ Urban Studies, Volume 40 (12), pp. 2883-2400.
Winkler, A (2007) Sheffield city report, Case report 45 LSE, CASE.
Slávka FERENČUHOVÁ - Changes and Continuities in the Post/Socialist Planning of the City of Brno, CZ
The cities in the post-socialist central and eastern European countries are often described as undergoing important changes since the 1990s. The transformations associated with the overall societal changes concern the appearance of the cities, the processes of their re/building, the strategies of governing and planning, as well as the lives of their inhabitants. The question is whether the current changes in these cities are comparable to the parallel urban development elsewhere in Europe and/or to what extent they are specific to post-socialist cities and influenced by their socialist past. My primary interest is however not in studying the actual appearance and development of the post-socialist cities, nor in observing how they are experienced in the everyday life. I am more concerned to question the ways the different actors - inhabitants, governors, or scientists - talk about the cities, about their inhabitants and about the urban life. I focus on the changes in the conceptualizations and representations of the cities as objects of research, planning, or as places of living. In this particular case, I am interested in urban planning as a specific part of urban governance.
The post-socialist urban planning proposes new visions of the future urban development and new strategies of their realization. The emphasis is often on creating new images of the cities attractive to the potential investors, the tourists, as well as to the inhabitants, and on suggesting the corresponding development projects. The ways the cities cope with the tasks and the new context since the 1990s (the idea of entering the global competition between the cities, the new roles of cities in the nation states, the need to deal with the socialist legacy) have been explained in numerous studies (e.g. Young and Kaczmarek 2008; Cochrane 2006; Cochrane and Jonas 1999; Stenning 2000; Eckardt 2005; Ward 2004)). In the Czech Republic, the planning ideas and principles seem to resemble the current strategies of the urban development elsewhere and, at the same time, to display a radical novelty compared to the urban planning under the socialist regime (Musil 2002). However, in order to understand more fully the changes that occurred in the urban planning in the post-socialist context since the 1990s, it is vital to focus on the basic principles and ideas formulated in planning and to compare them with those that were characteristic of the planning discourse in the previous period. A deep understanding of the changing core ideas of planning (such as what constitutes a city as an object of planning or what represents the planning activity itself) can be best obtained through analysis of textual planning documents issued since the 1950 till today.
Therefore, my focus is on studying the ways the contemporary urban planning conceptualizes the city as its object, pictures the historical situation and explains the ideal planning practice along with proposing new visions of development. In the case of the city of Brno, I compare these representations proposed in the recent planning documents with the corresponding representations created in the past. The aim of such a study is to trace the changes and to depict possible continuities in the planning ideas developed over time. If combined with an overview of the findings about the current planning practice in the cities elsewhere in Europe, this approach allows understanding the specificity of the post-socialist urban planning, as well as commenting on the relationship of its ideas to the historical context.
Cochrane, A. 2006. “Making up meanings in a capital city. Power, memory and monuments in Berlin.” European Urban and Regional Studies 13(1): 5 - 24.
Cochrane, A. - Jonas, A. 1999. “Reimagining Berlin: World city, national capital or ordinary place?” European Urban and Regional Studies 6(2): 145-164.
Eckardt, F. 2005. „In Search for Meaning: Berlin as National Capital and Global City.” Journal of contemporary European Studies 13(2): 187-198.
Musil, J. 2002. „Co se děje s českými městy dnes.” In: Horská, P - Maur, E - Musil, J (eds.) Zrod velkoměsta: urbanizace českých zemí a Evropa. Praha: Paseka. S. 298-331.
Stenning, A. 2000. „Placing (Post)Socialism.“ European Urban and Regional Studies, 7(2): 99-118.
Ward, J. 2004. „Berlin, the Virtual Global City.“ Journal of Visual Culture 3(2): 239-256.
Young, C. - Kaczmarek, S. 2008. „The Socialist Past and Postsocialist Urban Identity in Central and Eastern Europe: The Case of Łódź.“ European Urban and Regional Studies 15(1): 53-70.
The post-socialist urban planning proposes new visions of the future urban development and new strategies of their realization. The emphasis is often on creating new images of the cities attractive to the potential investors, the tourists, as well as to the inhabitants, and on suggesting the corresponding development projects. The ways the cities cope with the tasks and the new context since the 1990s (the idea of entering the global competition between the cities, the new roles of cities in the nation states, the need to deal with the socialist legacy) have been explained in numerous studies (e.g. Young and Kaczmarek 2008; Cochrane 2006; Cochrane and Jonas 1999; Stenning 2000; Eckardt 2005; Ward 2004)). In the Czech Republic, the planning ideas and principles seem to resemble the current strategies of the urban development elsewhere and, at the same time, to display a radical novelty compared to the urban planning under the socialist regime (Musil 2002). However, in order to understand more fully the changes that occurred in the urban planning in the post-socialist context since the 1990s, it is vital to focus on the basic principles and ideas formulated in planning and to compare them with those that were characteristic of the planning discourse in the previous period. A deep understanding of the changing core ideas of planning (such as what constitutes a city as an object of planning or what represents the planning activity itself) can be best obtained through analysis of textual planning documents issued since the 1950 till today.
Therefore, my focus is on studying the ways the contemporary urban planning conceptualizes the city as its object, pictures the historical situation and explains the ideal planning practice along with proposing new visions of development. In the case of the city of Brno, I compare these representations proposed in the recent planning documents with the corresponding representations created in the past. The aim of such a study is to trace the changes and to depict possible continuities in the planning ideas developed over time. If combined with an overview of the findings about the current planning practice in the cities elsewhere in Europe, this approach allows understanding the specificity of the post-socialist urban planning, as well as commenting on the relationship of its ideas to the historical context.
Cochrane, A. 2006. “Making up meanings in a capital city. Power, memory and monuments in Berlin.” European Urban and Regional Studies 13(1): 5 - 24.
Cochrane, A. - Jonas, A. 1999. “Reimagining Berlin: World city, national capital or ordinary place?” European Urban and Regional Studies 6(2): 145-164.
Eckardt, F. 2005. „In Search for Meaning: Berlin as National Capital and Global City.” Journal of contemporary European Studies 13(2): 187-198.
Musil, J. 2002. „Co se děje s českými městy dnes.” In: Horská, P - Maur, E - Musil, J (eds.) Zrod velkoměsta: urbanizace českých zemí a Evropa. Praha: Paseka. S. 298-331.
Stenning, A. 2000. „Placing (Post)Socialism.“ European Urban and Regional Studies, 7(2): 99-118.
Ward, J. 2004. „Berlin, the Virtual Global City.“ Journal of Visual Culture 3(2): 239-256.
Young, C. - Kaczmarek, S. 2008. „The Socialist Past and Postsocialist Urban Identity in Central and Eastern Europe: The Case of Łódź.“ European Urban and Regional Studies 15(1): 53-70.
Mar 5, 2009
Veronika KOVACSOVA - Shrinking diversity: the usage of space in Bratislava
In today’s post-industrial economy, where cities are thrust in a whirl of rivalry with each other, the concept of knowledge-based and creative industries appears continuously. A very popular and effective ‘tool’ to revitalize urban economies in many Western societies has been localizing and integrating cultural industries into the cities’ infrastructure, where arts and culture play an important role in urban growth and change.The concept of cultural industries has been studied extensively during the last few decades, mostly because of its reference and relevance to today’s knowledge-based societies (from a comparative point of view, Ondroš & Korec (2006) even make a link between the historical developments of Eastern and Western Europe, where the post-Fordist or – industrial period is compared to the post-socialist one). A number of urban economists (Harvey, 2001; Martin, 2006) are claiming cities in today’s post-industrial economies will survive through innovativeness, uniqueness, diversity. Often, these factors are identified as pre-conditions for a vibrant environment in contemporary cities, where culture and arts play an important role.
What is happening in today’s urban space of Bratislava, is that empty (especially) industrial buildings are being torn down to be replaced by high-rised buildings designed by internationally renowned architectural studios. Even though independent centers located mostly in formerly empty industrial buildings like ‘13 kubíkov’, ‘Tranzit’ or ‘Cervenka’ exist and provide spaces for exhibiting and creating art, their position compared to Stanica (in Žilina), Kasárne (in Košice) or even A4 (which is a Bratislavian governmentally supported cultural platform) is less influential. Therefore, their existence is also threatened due to difficulties to get finances from the government or even general public. Zukin argues that “artists also derive satisfaction from performing a creative life in spaces that remains distant from both the popular commercial mainstream and high culture venues.” (Zukin, 2008:729). Probably the most successful example of redeveloping a former industrial building is where the Design Factory resides. At the moment, there is no coherent plan created by the city government to protect and revitalize abandoned industrial socialist-complexes. One of the most recent controversies is around demolition of a former factory producing plastic materials Gumon in August 2008, which was declared as a historical industrial building in May 2008. Scott (2007) argues that these abandoned and dysfunctional industrial and commercial sights should be reused and revitalized, providing spaces for artists. Although it may be argued that pilloried artists are agents of gentrification (Zukin, 1995; Ley, 1996; Sassen, 2001:342; Scott, 2008:555) because they move to abandoned buildings in cheaper neighborhoods and revitalize them with their activities, Markusen (2006:1937) claims that in stagnant or small-town environments it is harder to argue that new artistic spaces are displacing anyone.
Jacobs argues that “planners can easily destroy city primary mixtures faster than these can grow in unplanned districts” (Jacobs, 1961:177). The problem is not with building twelve storey houses, but in the routine-mindedness of real-estate developers and standardization – little or no diversity in dwelling types. Jacobs argues that “the more homogeneity of use in a street or a neighbourhood, the greater is the temptation to be different in the only way left to be different.” (Jacobs, 1961:225). Especially preserving and recycling the old-industrial buildings and turning them into concert halls, art galleries or theatres (Evans, 2004; Scott, 2008:556), would create this distinctive factor of a neighbourhood.
References:
EVANS, GRAEME (2004), ‘Cultural industry quarters: from pre-industrial to post-industrial production’. In D. Bell and M. Jayne (eds.), City of Quarters: Urban Villages in the Contemporary City. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing Limited
HARVEY, D. (2001), The Art of Rent: Globalization and the Commodification of Culture. In Harvey, David Spaces of Capital. Towards a Critical Geography, pp. 394-411. New York: Routledge.
JACOBS, JANE (1961). The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Vintage Books, New York
LEY, DAVID (1996), ‘Follow the Hippies’: The Cultural Politics of Gentrification. In: The New Middle Class and the Remaking of the Central City. Oxford University Press: Oxford. pp. 175-221
MARKUSEN, A. (2006), Urban development and the politics of a creative class: evidence from a study of artists, Environment and Planning A 2006, volume 38, pages 1921 – 1940
MARTIN, RON (2006), Economic Geography and the New Discourse of Regional Competitiveness. In Sharmistha Bagchi-Sen and Helen Lawton- Smith, eds., Economic Geography, Past, Present and Future, pp. 159-172. London/New York: Routledge.
ONDROŠ, SLAVOMÍR & KOREC, PAVOL (2006). Súčasné dimenzie sociálno-demografickej štruktúry Bratislavy (Current dimensions of the socio-demographic structure of Bratislava), Sociologia (Journal) 38/2006, p. 49-82
SASSEN, SASKIA (2001), A New Urban Regime? In: The Global City: New York, Tokyo, London. Second Edition. Princeton, Princeton University
Press, pp. 329-344
SCOTT, ALLEN J. (2007), Capitalism and Urbanization in a New Key? The Cognitive Cultural Dimension. Social Forces 85, 4, pp. 1465-1482
SCOTT, ALLEN J. (2008), ‘Resurgent metropolis: economy, society and urbanization in an interconnected world’, International Journal of Urban
and Regional Research, 32(3): 548-564
ZUKIN, SHARON (1995), High Culture and Wild Commerce in New York City, In: The Cultures of Cities. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, pp. 109-
152
ZUKIN, SHARON (2008). Consuming Authenticity: From outposts of difference to means of exclusion, Cultural Studies, Vol. 22: 724-748
(This text is an excerpt of my Master thesis ‘Bringing Warhol (back) to Bratislava: transformation of the city’s symbolic capital into income’, November 2008)
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In my presentation I will also try to address the current development of the cities in the Netherlands, which are busy with finding sustainable solutions to (re-)use empty office spaces, the product of the knowledge-based economy of the late 1980s and onwards. The issue of office buildings resembles the situation of empty industrial buildings a lot, although this time with a seemingly slightly different and more elaborate agenda.
Petruţa TEAMPĂU - Sulina – the city of memories
Most post-socialist cities of Romania can be read as a kind of palimpsest with different layers of meaning, where stories and discourses collide in order to establish a new reading of the city, one that puts the recent communist past out of sight. New business networks, new places, new power relations, are being inscribed on pre-existing spaces, while abandoned industrial landscapes are being reinterpreted.
Sulina, the only town of the Delta, is a small place at the mouth of Danube, the most Eastern locality of Romania. The “city” is actually built on a narrow tongue of land between Danube and the Black Sea shore; surrounded by waters, it has no land connection to neighboring localities. A small, insignificant place in the margins of Romania, lost in between waters, a city looking rather like a village, with a dwindling population and a decaying urban landscape, Sulina has a bewildering, savage beauty, a lure of its own. The city bears witness of its different historical epochs and subsequent functionalities through its architectural blend of XIX century buildings, interwar houses, modern terraces and distasteful blocks of flats. Passing from street I to the other five parallel streets of the city entails a unique gradual translation from urban to rural, each with specific architecture and routine.
During communism, Sulina developed a local industry (mainly in fishing and tinning fish, in making carpets and in repairing naval ships). The demographic structure changed radically; most Greeks, Armenians, Jews have left the country; due to the communist politics of intense urbanization, the population was heavily “Romanian-ized”, and many Lipoveni from the neighboring villages in the delta came “to the city”, in the 70’s, to find work. Since the demise of communism, most of the local industry has dismantled; people lost their jobs, the unemployment rate become one of the biggest in the country, and the city continued to destroy itself. Described by newspapers as “a dying city, lost between two ages”, the city of Sulina struggles to have an implausible future by reviving a past it has long lost. Once part and nexus of one of the first European organizations (The European Commission of Danube), today doomed to isolation, Sulina tries to recuperate a regional identity and position. The official discourse increasingly pinpoints to European integration, portraying Sulina as “the gate of Europe”, thus reversing symbolically its - both geographical and socio-political - marginality, as summarized in the favorite catchphrase of the locals: “We are the first to see the light and the last to see justice”.
My research aims at describing how these ongoing changes (political, demographical, social) affect the outlook of the urban scene and, moreover, how they shape each other. In the case of Sulina, memory plays a vital role in (re)inscribing the landscape with new (old) meanings, erasing or obliterating other (and others’) denotation, and in giving a sense to “our’ city.
References
Petruţa Teampău, Kristof Van Assche - „Sulina - marketing diversity at the "gate of Europe"”, Anthropology of East Europe Review (in print)
Petruţa Teampău, Kristof Van Assche - “Sulina, sulina/when there’s water, there’s no light. Narrative, memory and autobiography in a Romanian town”, in Identities: Journal for Politics, Gender, and Culture (in print)
Petruţa Teampău, Kristof Van Assche - „Sulina, a dying city in a vital region. Memory, nostalgia, and the longing for the European future”, Ethnologia Balkanica, 2008, 13, 1.
Håkan FORSELL - Urban Planning and Property Cultures Takings Clauses and Temporary Solutions in European and US Urban Regeneration Projects
Many cities today in both Europe and in the United States are faced with serious economic, social and physical challenges including shrinking populations, unemployment, poverty, decreasing tax revenues and squalid living conditions. These problems have a dramatic effect on the physical fabric of declining cities, where large parts of the urban areas are characterized by under-utilized infrastructure, deteriorated buildings and vacant land.
Declining and de-industrialized cities in the modern western world was for a long time regarded as isolated incidents, but major research projects and state funded information campaigns, above all in Germany and in Great Britain, have during the 2000s provided a corpus of investigations that highlight the global range of the occurrences. Urban planning, on state and municipal level, is however still shaped in terms of new growth and construction. It is an ongoing process for the urban researchers as well as the distressed urban communities to encourage city governments to become more of an activating and less of a regulating force in future urban planning.
The dominating interest in recent studies has unquestionably been on urban government achievements to rearrange the legal framework, the administrative routines and the financial investments to infuse fresh life in the urban communities. Less attention has been drawn to the actual implementation of governmental policies vis-à-vis private property owners and investors for revitalizing or successfully reorganizing urban space and urban social relationships.
The present study wishes to examine an assumption being made elsewhere, but seldom scrutinized, in current research on ‘Shrinking cities’, namely that the outcome of public intervention is highly dependent on the ownership structure and the capacities and interests within a specific “property culture”. In declining cities planning tools like zoning have had little to offer since empty or deteriorated space dominates the urban landscape, and private actors have been more or less unwilling to engage in continuous investments. Long-range planning for these areas has recurrently been unsuccessful.
The research approach will study two highly diverse features of private-public property relationships in regeneration projects in the US and in Europe: 1. the takings actions and 2. the “interim solutions” of city or state governments in declining urban areas.
Takings action (expropriation, eminent domain) is a longstanding implementation technique of urban planning involving the power of government to take private property against the will of the owner, as long as the taking is for a public use and just compensation is paid. During the last decade, not least in the USA, governments have used takings action not only to promote public utilities, but to revitalize urban land through economic development by private or semi-public projects.
Interim solutions represents the opposite side of the implementation field that governmental planning and private property owners are involved in. The interim-concept refers to the temporary activation or disposal of vacant land or buildings, and the legal and political framework that makes such a disposal possible. In several cities in Europe, interim solutions have abridged maintenance and security costs for property owners, simplified the building permit process and reduce legal and administrative barriers.
Hence, the study will focus on the extremes of urban planning in post-industrial urban areas, the “hard” vs. the “soft” tools to deal with urban decline. The overarching goal of the study is to test the presupposition that the legal and economic integration or disintegration of private property depends on the city’s political climate, and hence on the city government’s ability and willingness, inability or unwillingness, to mediate new use patterns of land and buildings to empower community and social resources.
Declining and de-industrialized cities in the modern western world was for a long time regarded as isolated incidents, but major research projects and state funded information campaigns, above all in Germany and in Great Britain, have during the 2000s provided a corpus of investigations that highlight the global range of the occurrences. Urban planning, on state and municipal level, is however still shaped in terms of new growth and construction. It is an ongoing process for the urban researchers as well as the distressed urban communities to encourage city governments to become more of an activating and less of a regulating force in future urban planning.
The dominating interest in recent studies has unquestionably been on urban government achievements to rearrange the legal framework, the administrative routines and the financial investments to infuse fresh life in the urban communities. Less attention has been drawn to the actual implementation of governmental policies vis-à-vis private property owners and investors for revitalizing or successfully reorganizing urban space and urban social relationships.
The present study wishes to examine an assumption being made elsewhere, but seldom scrutinized, in current research on ‘Shrinking cities’, namely that the outcome of public intervention is highly dependent on the ownership structure and the capacities and interests within a specific “property culture”. In declining cities planning tools like zoning have had little to offer since empty or deteriorated space dominates the urban landscape, and private actors have been more or less unwilling to engage in continuous investments. Long-range planning for these areas has recurrently been unsuccessful.
The research approach will study two highly diverse features of private-public property relationships in regeneration projects in the US and in Europe: 1. the takings actions and 2. the “interim solutions” of city or state governments in declining urban areas.
Takings action (expropriation, eminent domain) is a longstanding implementation technique of urban planning involving the power of government to take private property against the will of the owner, as long as the taking is for a public use and just compensation is paid. During the last decade, not least in the USA, governments have used takings action not only to promote public utilities, but to revitalize urban land through economic development by private or semi-public projects.
Interim solutions represents the opposite side of the implementation field that governmental planning and private property owners are involved in. The interim-concept refers to the temporary activation or disposal of vacant land or buildings, and the legal and political framework that makes such a disposal possible. In several cities in Europe, interim solutions have abridged maintenance and security costs for property owners, simplified the building permit process and reduce legal and administrative barriers.
Hence, the study will focus on the extremes of urban planning in post-industrial urban areas, the “hard” vs. the “soft” tools to deal with urban decline. The overarching goal of the study is to test the presupposition that the legal and economic integration or disintegration of private property depends on the city’s political climate, and hence on the city government’s ability and willingness, inability or unwillingness, to mediate new use patterns of land and buildings to empower community and social resources.
Maria SCHILLER - A European intercultural approach in the face of economic decline: what can we learn from post-industrial cities?
Theoretical Context:
Starting out from my Phd research on governance of cultural diversity in European cities, my paper will tackle the more specific and very topical question how changes in the economic structures of our societies and the withdrawal of the welfare state system can be dealt with in contemporary governance approaches and policy developments on cultural diversity. The wane of multiculturalism and the decline of the welfare state have posed several challenges to multicultural, intercultural and diverstity policies in the past years. In the face of the recently emerging economic crises however new and even more profound challenges to the feasibility of diversity policies can be expected and it is necessary to scrutinize current policy approaches on their abilitiy to provide answers to the emerging questions.
Middle-sized, post-fordist cities, which often have received high numbers of guestworkers in the past seem as highly relevant in this regard, as they allegedly do exhibit some experience with the difficulties of the withdrawal of the economy and might thus also provide examples of good practice within this context. The „Intercultural Cities“ programme of the Council of Europe , which is currently half-way through its pilot phase, features an interesting selection of 12 European cities (Greenwhich/UK, Izhvesk/Russian Federation, Lublin/Poland, Lyon/France, Melitopol/Ukraine, Oslo/Norway, Patras/Greece, Subotica/Serbia, Neuchatel/Switzerland, Berlin Neukölln/Germany, Tilburg/The Netherlands, Reggio Emilia/Italy), with very different situations and histories of diversity. Yet this programme aims to develop and establish a common vision and policy approach of „interculturality“ and to create a network of intercultural cities which later should be expanded to other cities in Europe. While some of the participating cities have been depicted as role models for a very well established welfare system, some of have profound experiences with de-industrialization and the struggle to promote a policy for cultural diversity despite few economic resources and economic hardship among its inhabitants.
I would like to analyze the current engagement of the Council of Europe in promoting an intercultural policy for European cities and scrutinise if this approach is prepared to handle possible difficulties due to economic recession and if it is able to offer answers not only furthering intercultural exchange but also to very substantial questions of economic advancement and change.
Methodology:
In a first step I will thus prepare an in-depth analysis of the policy documents („White paper on intercultural dialogue“) and project material of the „Intercultural Cities Programme“ (Concept Paper, Policy Grid, Resource Pack, Intercultural City Profiles). In a second step I will try to illustrate my analysis on a case study of one city (which will be either through fieldwork in the Czech-German borderland in the framework of the European city seminar or through some investigations/literature review on one of the cities of the intercultural cities programme – most likely Tilburg).
Literature:
Council of Europe
2008 White Paper on Intercultural Dialogue: „Living together as equals in Dignity“
Council of Europe
2008 The intercultural city: what it is and how to make it work: Concept Paper
Council of Europe
2008 Intercultural cities: Resource Pack
Council of Europe/ Phil Wood/ Comedia
2008 Ten Steps to an Intercultural City Policy: Guidance for policy-makers with good practice examples
Council of Europe
2008 Intercultural city profile: Greenwhich/UK
Council of Europe
2008 Intercultural city profile: Izhvesk/Russian Federation
Council of Europe
2008 Intercultural city profile: Lublin/Poland
Council of Europe
2008 Intercultural city profile: Lyon/France
Council of Europe
2008 Intercultural city profile: Melitopol/Ukraine
Council of Europe
2008 Intercultural city profile: Oslo/Norway
Council of Europe
2008 Intercultural city profile: Patras/Greece
Council of Europe
2008 Intercultural city profile: Subotica/Serbia
Council of Europe
2008 Intercultural city profile: Neuchatel/Switzerland
Council of Europe
2008 Intercultural city profile: Berlin Neukölln/Germany
Council of Europe
2008 Intercultural city profile: Tilburg/The Netherlands
Council of Europe
2008 Intercultural city profile: Reggio Emilia/Italy
Starting out from my Phd research on governance of cultural diversity in European cities, my paper will tackle the more specific and very topical question how changes in the economic structures of our societies and the withdrawal of the welfare state system can be dealt with in contemporary governance approaches and policy developments on cultural diversity. The wane of multiculturalism and the decline of the welfare state have posed several challenges to multicultural, intercultural and diverstity policies in the past years. In the face of the recently emerging economic crises however new and even more profound challenges to the feasibility of diversity policies can be expected and it is necessary to scrutinize current policy approaches on their abilitiy to provide answers to the emerging questions.
Middle-sized, post-fordist cities, which often have received high numbers of guestworkers in the past seem as highly relevant in this regard, as they allegedly do exhibit some experience with the difficulties of the withdrawal of the economy and might thus also provide examples of good practice within this context. The „Intercultural Cities“ programme of the Council of Europe , which is currently half-way through its pilot phase, features an interesting selection of 12 European cities (Greenwhich/UK, Izhvesk/Russian Federation, Lublin/Poland, Lyon/France, Melitopol/Ukraine, Oslo/Norway, Patras/Greece, Subotica/Serbia, Neuchatel/Switzerland, Berlin Neukölln/Germany, Tilburg/The Netherlands, Reggio Emilia/Italy), with very different situations and histories of diversity. Yet this programme aims to develop and establish a common vision and policy approach of „interculturality“ and to create a network of intercultural cities which later should be expanded to other cities in Europe. While some of the participating cities have been depicted as role models for a very well established welfare system, some of have profound experiences with de-industrialization and the struggle to promote a policy for cultural diversity despite few economic resources and economic hardship among its inhabitants.
I would like to analyze the current engagement of the Council of Europe in promoting an intercultural policy for European cities and scrutinise if this approach is prepared to handle possible difficulties due to economic recession and if it is able to offer answers not only furthering intercultural exchange but also to very substantial questions of economic advancement and change.
Methodology:
In a first step I will thus prepare an in-depth analysis of the policy documents („White paper on intercultural dialogue“) and project material of the „Intercultural Cities Programme“ (Concept Paper, Policy Grid, Resource Pack, Intercultural City Profiles). In a second step I will try to illustrate my analysis on a case study of one city (which will be either through fieldwork in the Czech-German borderland in the framework of the European city seminar or through some investigations/literature review on one of the cities of the intercultural cities programme – most likely Tilburg).
Literature:
Council of Europe
2008 White Paper on Intercultural Dialogue: „Living together as equals in Dignity“
Council of Europe
2008 The intercultural city: what it is and how to make it work: Concept Paper
Council of Europe
2008 Intercultural cities: Resource Pack
Council of Europe/ Phil Wood/ Comedia
2008 Ten Steps to an Intercultural City Policy: Guidance for policy-makers with good practice examples
Council of Europe
2008 Intercultural city profile: Greenwhich/UK
Council of Europe
2008 Intercultural city profile: Izhvesk/Russian Federation
Council of Europe
2008 Intercultural city profile: Lublin/Poland
Council of Europe
2008 Intercultural city profile: Lyon/France
Council of Europe
2008 Intercultural city profile: Melitopol/Ukraine
Council of Europe
2008 Intercultural city profile: Oslo/Norway
Council of Europe
2008 Intercultural city profile: Patras/Greece
Council of Europe
2008 Intercultural city profile: Subotica/Serbia
Council of Europe
2008 Intercultural city profile: Neuchatel/Switzerland
Council of Europe
2008 Intercultural city profile: Berlin Neukölln/Germany
Council of Europe
2008 Intercultural city profile: Tilburg/The Netherlands
Council of Europe
2008 Intercultural city profile: Reggio Emilia/Italy
René SEYFARTH: Regeneration for whom: Post-industrial heritage as hegemonic claim for space
My PhD-project deals with the nexus between heritage and local cultural identity as well as with the thereby produced exclusions within the use and interpretation of urban space. This issue will be addressed by examining architecture, since architecture is frequently perceived as an evidence for local identity in past and present. Urban planning policies often emphasise the need of the inhabitants for identification with the urban space, in many cases by referring to local history and the creation of “meeting places”. But it is rarely questioned whether the references to local traditions, history and the construction of a cultural identity have disadvantageous impacts on society as a whole or on minority or rather marginalised groups in special.Post-industrial cities are concerned with dynamic processes of the re-interpretation of urban space since their image(s), and one could say, also their right to exist is questioned. Formerly prosperous cities became with their economic decline depreciated and are perceived as an agglomeration of (social, economic, ecological,...) problems. It is not that these problems have not been existed while the economy was prospering – it is more a change of the perception of and debate on post-industrial urban spaces that have been changed. My project is dealing with these debates on change: which heritage is mobilised, which future is projected and not at least: by whom? I will further analyse the claims for urban space (e.g. the differing strategies of urban regeneration in post-industrial cities) and which inclusions and exclusions are produced by these claims and changes. Within this scope I am focussing on contested heritage sites and minorised positions.
Workspaces and industrial sites for example are increasingly considered as important part of the cultural heritage of a city and/or region, especially since the 1970s. However, the importance and significance of architecture is revised from time to time: both as a cultural technique in general and with regard to particular buildings. Accordingly, the strategies of regeneration are different and are often proceeding simultaneously within one city. While the demolition of one industrial building another one is turned into a museum or centre for performing arts, re-vitalised as workspace for production, rededicated as apartment or office space and still other buildings are squatted or are dilapidating without any use. In any case these post-industrial spaces cannot be understood only as of the built environment but also as imagination, intervention and medium, and be it at least as a sign of economic decline. It is part of the social space not only as physical building but also as an object of public and individual perception, of controversy and rivalling interests. This involvement into the social sphere of a city makes architecture and especially those which is marked as “heritage” part within the formation of cultural identity.
Following Kaschuba who criticised the thesis about the homogenising vigours of globalisation and the re-orientation to regional contexts as an opposite tendency to this trend (Kaschuba 2001) and Belina with his deep scepticism about explanations based on culture and tradition (Belina 2003) it should be discussed if there are further possibilities to explain these phenomena and the underlying motivations. As Böhme noted, the production of space (e.g. by architecture as well as by declaring architectural heritage) does not only serve to fulfil a human need for orientation or identity but is also responsible for the suppression of reality/realities (Böhme 1995). Regarded from this perspective, the commodification of urban space in favour of anticipated needs (e.g. of consumers, tourists, or prospective investors) also leads to a scarce attention for differing needs, especially concerning social minorities. For this reason the desire for a distinguishable local identity may just result in an advancing spatial homogenisation and displacement processes like gentrification (Wirth and Freestone 2003).
Taking into account the close relatedness of heritage, tradition, historiography and commemoration – notably by or referring to architecture – and the maintenance of elite formation and hierarchy (Philo and Kearns 1993; Fezer and Heyden 2004) it is important to argue with the inclusive as well as the exclusive potential of policies for post-industrial sites and areas (cf. Lewi 2005; Birke and Larsen 2007; Tan 2008). I hope to contribute to the European Cities Seminar by demonstrating by means of examples some aspects of what this question includes.
Bibliographical reference
Belina, Bernd (2003): Kultur? Macht und Profit! - Zu Kultur, Ökonomie und Politik im öffentlichen Raum und in der radical geography. In: Gebhardt, Hans; Reuber, Paul und Wolkersdorf, Günter (Ed.): Kulturgeographie. Aktuelle Ansätze und Entwicklungen. Heidelberg/Berlin, Spektrum Akademischer Verlag: 83-97.
Birke, Peter and Larsen, Chris Holmsted (Ed.); (2007): Besetze deine Stadt! - Bz din by! Häuserkämpfe und Stadtentwicklung in Kopenhagen. Berlin/Hamburg, Assoziation A.
Böhme, Gernot (1995): Atmosphäre. Frankfurt am Main, Suhrkamp.
Fezer, Jesko and Heyden, Mathias (2004): Hier entsteht. Strategien partizipativer Architektur und räumlicher Aneignung. In: Fezer, Jesko und Heyden, Mathias (Ed.): Hier entsteht. Strategien partizipativer Architektur und räumlicher Aneignung. Berlin, b_books: 13-31.
Kaschuba, Wolfgang (2001): Geschichtspolitik und Identitätspolitik. Nationale und ethnische Diskurse im Kulturvergleich. In: Binder, Beate; Kaschuba, Wolfgang und Niedermüller, Peter (Ed.): Inszenierung des Nationalen. Geschichte, Kultur und Politik der Identitäten am Ende des 20. Jahrhunderts. Köln, Böhlau. Band 7, Alltag & Kultur: 19-42.
Lewi, Hannah (2005): Whose heritage: The contested site of the Swan Brewery. Fabrications 15 (2): 43-62.
Philo, Chris and Kearns, Gerry (1993): Culture, history, capital. A critical introduction to selling places. In: Philo, Chris und Kearns, Gerry (Ed.): Selling places. The city as cultural capital, past and present. Oxford: 1-32.
Tan, Pelin (2008): Istanbul: Neighbourhood resistance and the counter-cultural space. dérive. Zeitschrift für Stadtforschung 33: 15-19.
Waldvogel, Florian (2003): Culture Jamming: Die visuelle Grammatik des Widerstands. In: Babias, Marius und Waldvogel, Florian (Ed.): Die offene Stadt. Essen/Dortmund, Kokerei Zollverein/Stiftung Industriedenkmalpflege und Geschichtskultur: 72-82.
Wirth, Renee and Freestone, Robert (2003): Tourism, heritage and authenticity: State-assisted cultural commodification in suburban Sydney, Australia. Perspectivas Urbanas / Urban Perspectives 3: 1-10.
Lina ZIGELYTE: Demolition as a space for (re)action
Cities establish themselves upon layers of time and space. However, temporality and spatiality become fluid entities within cities - they are being perpetually redefined.
The concept of a post-industrial European city poses at least a few questions. Firstly, what is post-industrial? Secondly, where do we draw the demarcation lines of Europe in 2009? And finally, what becomes of a city in the light of the other two inquiries?
This presentation focuses on a Pro-Test Lab set up around a cinema house called 'Lietuva' ('Lithuania') in the heart of Vilnius' historical centre. The project, initiated by new media artists duo Nomeda and Gediminas Urbonas, is probing into the intersection of public and space. While the project questions the legitimacy of cinema's privatisation (which should result in building's demolition followed by erection of residential apartments), artists turned cinema space into a generator of meaning. Pro-Test Lab, set up four years ago upon the closure of 'Lietuva' in the squated ticket office located in the lobby of the cinema house, became a kernel of a movement questioning the demolition of public spaces in the capital of Lithuania. Moreover, Pro-Test Lab addresses inadequate reaction of the public towards these processes.
Furthermore, the project has generated a somewhat symbolic meaning in the country due to the title of the cinema house and the fact that the building was sold to one of the most influential companies in Eastern Europe, with their interests stretching from retail business to nuclear energy. Thus Pro-Test Lab explores the discourse on capital shaping cities.
My presentation poses the question on how such performative demolitions (of places and senses) reshape modern city by generating spaces as realms of (re)action.
Philosopher Brian Massumi argues that we have always lived in the process of simulation and the question lies not in the attempt of tracing the copy or the model, but in addressing how to deal with this simulation. Art, he maintains, neither resembles nor replicates, but 'multiplies potentials' (Massumi, 1989) and recreates a territory, which is not territorial. I contend that performative spaces should become a significant part of modern cities and particularly those in 'new Europe' as capable of transposing history and reshaping the ontological categories of space and public.
Bibliography:
Hassenpflug, D. 1998. Atopias - The challenge of imagineering. Available online: http://www.tu-cottbus.de/Theo/Wolke/eng/Subjects/981/Hassenpflug/hassenpflug_t.html
Jacobs, J. 1962. The Death and Life of Great American Cities. London: Jonathan Cape.
Johnson, S. 2001. Emergence: the Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software. New York: Scribner
Interviu su Nerijumi Mileriu: Vilnius: tarp Skandinavijos Siaurietiskumo ir Lenisko Slavizmo. 2007. Kuras, D. Lietuvos Rytas. Available online: http://www.lrytas.lt/-11941752761192779191-n-milerius-vilnius-tarp-skandinavijos-šiaurietiškumo-ir-lenkiško-slavizmo.htm
Latour, B., Yaneva, A. 2008.«Give me a Gun and I will Make All Buildings Move : An ANT’s View of Architecture », in Geiser, Reto (ed.), Explorations in Architecture: Teaching, Design, Research, Basel: Birkhäuser. Accessed online: http://www.bruno-latour.fr/poparticles/poparticle/P-138-BUILDING-VENICE.pdf
Massumi, B. 1987. Realer than Real. The Simulacrum According to Deleuze and Guattari. Copyright, no. 1, pp. 90-97
Shaw, V. D. 2001. The Post-Industrial City in Ronan Paddison (ed.), The Handbook of Urban Studies. London: Sage
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