EXPERTS

URBAN AGE SOUTH AMERICA

The Urban Age project extends its interdisciplinary investigation to the process of urbanisation in South America with a conference in São Paulo to be held in December 2008 as the conclusion of a year-long period of research and analysis. Apart from addressing the significant structural changes affecting Brazil's largest city and major economic powerhouse - with a growing population of over 19 million it is today the 5th largest city in the world - the Urban Age will explore urban trends in Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Bogotá and Lima offering a regional perspective on the key social, spatial and economic issues underlying urban growth in South America.

Compared to the unprecedented levels of urbanisation currently being experienced in Asia and Africa, many South American cities have consolidated their growth and settlement patterns over the last decades. From Bogota to Curitiba, a number of South American cities already have demonstrated leadership in addressing environmental and social sustainability in the developing world. Others like São Paulo, Rio and Buenos Aires are tackling social exclusion and the problems associated with the widening income gap with new policies and governance structures aimed at delivering more sustainable urban environments. While the barrios and favelas continue to grow, there are initiatives aimed a 'retrofitting' these informal settlements into more inclusive and stable places for people to live.

The Urban Age will investigate these issues alongside a rigorous analysis of the ways in which South American cities are changing from a physical and spatial point of view. The impact of ever-increasing sprawl on energy consumption and pollution, the exponential increase in car ownership and the debilitating effect of uncontrolled growth on basic urban infrastructure - like public transport, water and sewer systems - will be analysed in the context of emerging governance structures and new forms of political engagement.

The Urban Age South America is being organised in association with the State of São Paulo, the Municipality of São Paulo, the University of São Paulo and Centro de Estudo de Politica e Economia do Setor Publico at the Foundation Getulio Vargas. A group of international, regional and local urban experts will be working closely through a series of workshops in São Paulo and London during 2008 on the core themes of social exclusion and urban violence, public transport and mobility, and the relationship between urban growth and infrastructure provision.

In parallel to these activities, the second annual Deutsche Bank Urban Age Award will be launched in April 2008. Created to encourage people to take responsibility for their cities and form new alliances to improve the lives of urban citizens, the US$100,000 award will be focussed on new initiatives in the wider São Paulo metropolitan area. Following an open call for entries, an independent jury will announce the winner of the Deutsche Bank Urban Age Award in December 2008.

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