Content | Publications
organisers
Feeling Safe In The Crowd.
The Case Of New York
by Sophie Body-Gendrot
An important virtue of public space is that it transmits a sense of security among strangers. This capacity to make people “feel safe in the crowd” has kept cities cohesive through history and refutes visions that see violence and urban fragmentation as unavoidable. Yet, such public space is now being eroded by new and old threats: new lethal threats of international terrorism and well-known problems such as urban crime and social disorder, and on the other hand, the overreactions to such threats evidenced in the militarization of urban space and its pervasive commercialization.
The Resurgence of Urban Centralities: A Look at Contemporary New York
by Dieter Läpple & Miguel Kanai
This paper looks at the enduring economic centrality of cities in advanced capitalist countries under current conditions of globalisation, the shift to a knowledge-based economy and the worldwide transition towards urban settlements. The paper introduces the overall trends that indicate the advent of an urban age at the global level and also a renaissance for (at least a number of) cities in the advanced capitalist core of North America and Europe; focusing on the significance of contemporary New York in visualising these trends.
Travelling Less, Living Better, Who Pays?
by Hermann Knoflacher and Philipp Rode
New York is the prime model of a city with a dense, high-rise urban core. The concentration of work forces is based on public transport, particularly the subway. Motorways and car infrastructure, which were added subsequently to the city's transit system, caused many problems which have not been solved until today. Currently, New York's dynamic urban development with increasing pressure on the existing transport capacity is regarded as a key problem. In addition, many opportunities for improving urban life and the urban economy related to transport are not recognized by politicians, planners and local experts.
The New Urban Visions of London: Is safety in public space the
major issue?
by Sophie Body-Gendrot
Cities are vulnerable yet they are also resilient. This paper discusses issues of security and long-term social trust that need to be considered in cities that are redeveloping rapidly as it is the case of London. The focus is on Elephant and Castle, an existing inner-city neighbourhood with a through plan of revitalization, and on the proposed Olympic Village planned in vacant land in the Lower Lea Valley. The paper argues that security needs to be conceived as thick public good that requires the participation of both the state and various sectors of civil society, managing social conflicts and the new roles that city play as an intersection of local and global dynamics.
