Shadow City(s)

The AIANY Global Dialogues Committee will host an event* titled Shadow City(s) to examine patterns of peri-urban growth in the Global South that define some of the most prolific urban typologies of the 21st Century; developments in municipalities or adjunct cities on the periphery of traditional/historical centers that share an urban dichotomy between informal settlement vs. formalized development including gated communities, corporate/industrial campuses and significant infrastructural projects. Planning issues in Nairobi, Rio, Mumbai and Bhopal will look at expanding boundaries and populations that often outpace adequate regional plans relative to infrastructure, land use and social, economic and ecological sustainability. What defines these territories and what opportunities do they offer for thinking beyond conventional planning methodologies? How can the role of architecture be reframed to better meet the challenges within these shadow territories that define the future city? Introduction: William Menking, Architect’s Newspaper Speakers: Elliot Sclar, Clara Irazabal/Jeff Yuan, Geeta Mehta, Anna Rubbo. Elliott Sclar is a professor of urban planning. An economist and urban planner, he is the director of the Center for Sustainable Urban Development (CSUD) at Columbia University's Earth Institute. Professor Sclar's research interests include urban economic development, transportation, and public service economics. He was a lead author of a A Home in the City and is a nationally recognized expert on privatization and the author of You Don't Always Get What You Pay For: The Economics of Privatization (Cornell 2000). He earned his PhD at Tufts (1972). Prior to his appointment at Columbia University, he was an assistant professor of urban economics at Brandeis University. Clara Irazábal is Director of the Latin Lab and Assistant Professor of Urban Planning at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. Her research focuses on processes and politics of planning, especially in Latin America and Latino US, and their impact on community development and socio-spatial justice. She received her Ph.D. in Architecture from the University of California at Berkeley, and has two Masters in Architecture and Urban Design and Planning from the University of California at Berkeley and the Universidad Central de Venezuela. Further details on her work are available at: http://www.arch.columbia.edu/users/cei2108columbiaedu. Geeta Mehta teaches at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University in New York. She has done professional or teaching work in India, China, Ghana, Jamaica, Ukraine, Austria, Brazil, Vietnam, and Japan. She serves on the advisory boards of Earth Institute’s Millennium Cities Initiative at Columbia University and is co-founder of two nonprofit organizations: “URBZ: User Generated Cities”, and “Asia Initiatives”. She is the author, co-author and editor of several books including City Connect: Issues of Equity and Sustainability in the 21st Century (Kukushikan University Press, 2011). Mehta is a graduate of the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi and Columbia University in New York. She received her Ph.D. in Urban Engineering from the University of Tokyo. Anna Rubbo is a professor at the University of Sydney and her research and publications are focused in design as a social and participatory practice in local and global contexts. A member of the UN Millennium Project Taskforce to Improve the Lives of Slum Dwellers (2002-04), in 2005 she was instrumental developing the Global Studio to explore new approaches to the education of urban professionals. Her work has been widely published, and shown in exhibitions such as the 2011-2012 ‘Design with the other 90%’ at the United Nations, New York. She was the founder and continuing Editor of the journal, Architectural Theory Review from 1996-2011 and a Life Fellow of the Australian Institute of Architects. Dr. Rubbo holds degrees from the University of Melbourne and the University of Michigan. Jeffrey Yuen is a Master’s student in the Urban Planning program at Columbia University with a concentration in housing and community development. Much of his research focuses on issues of social justice and land tenure in housing policy. His is currently studying spatial manifestations of Oil-Driven Development in Leste Fluminense, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He holds a B.L.A. in Landscape Architecture from California Polytechnic University at San Luis Obispo. Website: http://cfa.aiany.org/index.php?section=calendar&evtid=4199 Cost: Event is free and open to public. RSVP: RSVP appreciated. RSVP at http://cfa.aiany.org/index.php?section=calendar&evtid=4199 Location: Center for Architecture 536 Laguardia Place New York, NY 10012 (212) 358-6133 *AIA Continuing Education Credits available