Prof Alan Jacobs wants to know whether magic and technology can learn to get along with each other. He laments the dominant tone of fantasy literature that sees natural magic opposed to cultural machinery. http://theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/07/magic-and-technology-can-the-two-coexist/260412/ Jacobs hopes for: "A fictional world where magic rules but is not the only game in town". This sounds … Continue reading magic and technology
Category: urbanism
Cultural Theory and Planning
Thomas Hartmann writes in the journal Planning Theory on wicked problems and clumsy solutions in planning. Thomas Hartmann, 2012. Wicked problems and clumsy solutions: Planning as expectation management. Planning Theory August 2012 vol. 11 no. 3 242-256 Abstract In 1973, Horst W Rittel and Malvin A Webber introduced the term ‘wicked problem’ in planning theory. They … Continue reading Cultural Theory and Planning
They saw a conspiracy
Is the UN Using Bike Paths to Achieve World Domination? - Atlantic Mobile - http://pulse.me/s/5KIjE
Detroit: a city fit for superheroes?
Chatting with my young son this evening it occured to us that superheroes require certain types of cities, certain kinds of urban form, in order to thrive. Spiderman needs tall buildings closely packed in order to leap between them. The Hulk needs impressive edifices to knock down. Only certain types of urban form are fit … Continue reading Detroit: a city fit for superheroes?
On the Death of Colin Ward
The Child in the City, Anarchy in Action and Welcome Thinner City are three of the most influential books for the shape of my adult life. I'm mourning the death of writer and activist, 'giant of social commentary', Colin Ward. Ward's claim in Anarchy in Action (1973) that the international postal system was a perfect … Continue reading On the Death of Colin Ward
Beyond Enclaves in Palestine (Part 4)
In this series about planning in Palestine we've looked at three alternative 'plans'. The first, thankfully, will never be built (although, chillingly, it's really just a vision of present segregated reality). The second may well be built (though it would take a dramatic turnaround in political will). The third offers a glimpse of a progress-free … Continue reading Beyond Enclaves in Palestine (Part 4)
Beyond Enclaves in Palestine (Part 3)
What future can be planned for Palestine? So far in this series we've looked at a nightmare sci-fi segregationalism generated merely from revealing the implications of the Oslo Accords as architectural impressions. We've also looked at a much more positive spatial plan to develop a central north-south transit corridor, linking most of the main settlements … Continue reading Beyond Enclaves in Palestine (Part 3)
Beyond enclaves in Palestine: Constructing the physical reality of territorial integrity (Part 1)
I’ve been struck recently by three somewhat contrasting visions of physical development for a future Palestine. Palestine. Perhaps nowhere else on earth has the philosophy of space been so consistently conceived as a weapon. The sophistication of the manipulation of space for military and political purposes in the West Bank and Gaza has made the … Continue reading Beyond enclaves in Palestine: Constructing the physical reality of territorial integrity (Part 1)
City air makes you free but that’s not all it makes you
In the morning at the railway station the woman sitting next to me gave a big sigh and said, ‘Doesn’t this beat looking at all those city buildings!’ Given the view from the platform, you might see why I felt I had to agree. But are city buildings really all that bad? For instance, Ely … Continue reading City air makes you free but that’s not all it makes you
Four Cultures 