Quazi Mahtab Zaman

Greg G. Hall

Border Urbanism presents a global array of authors’ research that tackles the perception, interpretation, and nature of borders from a transdisciplinary perspective. The authors examine ways in which borders attempt to define socially, economically, politically, and historically incompatible systems, from micro neighbourhoods to global macro territories, and how this blurs urban order that results in an absence of cohesion. Their analysis of contextual worldwide settings considers the unique issues and the broad scope of forces that shape borders and separate socioeconomic, political, cultural, and historical polarities. The authors consider ways in which the resulting urban border conditions determine the mobility of goods, resources, and people and how these delineations define relationships that influence geopolitical relationships, socioeconomic transactions, and people’s lives at multiple levels. They address the temporal issues defined by a variety of unique urban conditions that result from these lateral thresholds. Each chapter contributes to a critical discourse of the subject of border urbanism and the phenomenon created by separation, demarcation, and segregation as well as by conflict and coexistence. The transdisciplinary approach of Border Urbanism ensures that it will be of interest to individuals across a spectrum of professions and disciplines. Professionals such as urban planners, designers, architects, developers, and civil and environmental engineers and students of these disciplines will be particularly interested as will allied professionals and those not traditionally associated with urbanism; these include artists, sociologists, historians, lawyers, politicians, and civic and government leaders. The authors’ global perspectives, combined with their expertise in environmental, historical, cultural, social, political, and geographic areas, will appeal to anyone interested in border urbanism and its intersection with these areas.

Transdisciplinary Perspectives

Border Urbanism

Małgorzata Nowobilska

The redesign of Potsdamer Platz depicts the struggle to revive Berlin, Germany. This central and highly visible square has undergone a series of strategic revisions to restore its vitality and so to meet place-enhancing objectives. Specifically, the book critically addresses the challenging tasks of restoring Potsdamer Platz from a state of disintegration to a condition worthy of a world-class city, although the questions remain unanswered as to how far the objectives have been achieved. The book enables readers to become familiar with the various stages of transformation, aided by the authors’ hand-drawn illustration – a series of sketches accompanied by narrations focusing on how to critically read ‘cities in transformation’. As a whole, it presents an overview of the strategic process of urban regeneration. The findings from this theoretical exploration help reposition our understanding of the process of re-making a ‘city in decay and transition’; and introduces new strands of regeneration ideologies, politics and methods.

The Reshaping of Berlin

Potsdamer Platz

Malgorzata Nowobilska

Igea Troiani

This book presents a collection of critical, multi-disciplinary essays on urban research by established and early career researchers who participated in the 9th Annual AHRA (Architectural Humanities Research Association) Research Student Symposium. The symposium was held at the Scott Sutherland School of Architecture and Built Environment, Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen from Saturday 19th May to Sunday 20th May 2012. The authors highlight contemporary research issues in urban development in search of new and fresh approaches that reflect the changing principles and praxis of urban conditions. The common ambition is to create new lines of knowledge in urban research. Due to socio-economic, political and technological changes to urban production and patterns of consumption, and a drive for inter-, cross-, multi- and transdisciplinary practice, the essays also reflect the ideological shift currently underway in academic faculties and external research organisations.

Quazi Mahtab Zaman

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