Group 08_Photobook_Space and Society

8

Photobook Space & Society

Master of Built Environment and Interiors Politecnico di Milano - Leonardo Campus A.Y. 2018-2019 Professors: Costa Giuliana

group 08 Nguyen Thi Ngoc Quynh Nguyen Thuy Trang Zhong Xiaotian Zhang Ce Zhao Yunhe Zhu Shao Ping Xuan Wanli

index 5 16 25 34 41 47 52 58 63 71 79

I_Urban Life (the nexus between micro and macro sociology) II_Places and non places (Micro Sociology) III_Proxemics, human beings and space (Micro Sociology) IV_Migration and the urban space (macro sociology): diversity, inequalities V_The Urban Question: The Conceptualizations of the Urban and Urbanization, From 1970s till Today VI_Segregation, Marginality, stigmatization, poverty (Macro sociology) VII_Segregation(s), discriminations and their dynamics: a specific case, Gypsies, Roma and Travellers VIII_Inequalities and auto-segregation phenomena IXGlobalization, global cities and the Rise of New Inequalities X_Slums, chances, inequalities, uneven spaces and conditions XI_Gentrification issues between North and South, East and West

I_Urban Life (the nexus between micro and macro sociology) Space & Society

Urban Life (the nexus between micro and macro sociology)

Fig 01. The world-famous Times Square full of people, neon lights and billboards.

Photo: Veronika Vopelkova

Urban Life (the nexus between micro and macro sociology)

metropolitan life Time Square - New York City - US - 2017 Context: New York is considered one of the most modern cities in the world, different from the light capital of Paris or European cities, New York is a model of a modern, multicultural, multi-ethnic city.

When we think of modernity we dream of city life, a life that is full of luxuries, entertainment, good education, employment opportunity, clean environment and good health. However, city life goes beyond the mentioned advantages.

One aspect that makes city life precious is social interaction with diversity in culture especially in cities that are metropolitan. Being fond of communication and interaction, I would resort to the city for the sake of meeting new friends. Moreover, it is also possible to relish new plates every day thanks to the abundance of the restaurants and the varied culinary cultures offered by the city.

City life reveals modernity and pride of rich and lucrative amenities. There is usually an immense attraction and unique glamor in the city that attracts people from remote and underdeveloped localities. The comfortable life, cultural uniqueness, different commercial activities and economic advantages are for sure a feel of new life and modernity as well as constant aspiration to have good life hence attracts people of all classes to migrate to cities.

However, it is becoming more and more common for people to perceive cities to be places of work only. People prefer to spend their free time in the countryside and nature, while they see the beauty of other cities only as tourists on holiday. So, how can we make cities not only bearable but, above all, desirable places to live in?

One of the great differences between urban life and rural life is the communication between people. Why do we have many people but the communication is reduced? The community always emphasizes interactivity, which we call society, is a collection of individuals. If it’s a small town, a square is a gathering place, a place of communication, where information is transmitted. So in urban areas, the square is sometimes just the place where we skim each other without a bond.

Urban Life (the nexus between micro and macro sociology)

Fig 02. Copenhagen, Denmark, Summer time, 2018 Photo: Hyotin Zhong

Urban Life (the nexus between micro and macro sociology)

public space, communication Copenhagen, Denmark Context: In the context of busy life, less communication, public spaces are the solution to urban life. We meet, communicate, exchange information and relax.

In Copenhagen, in the summer time, which is such a normal phenomenon actually. It’s an open bar located on the top of a commercial complex. In terms of urban life, it’s very common to find that people gathering in the public space with groups or families, leisurely drinking, talking or just sitting enjoy the sun. In other words, this kind of urban facility directly provide a good place for people to form their lifestyle as well.

From time immemorial, societies have fashioned informal and formal public and private spaces in their settlements. Public space is “a place accessible to all citizens, for their use and enjoyment” . In contrast, a private place is open to those permitted by law or custom. As it becomes more clear in the following essay, the meaning of the words “accessible,” “use,” and “enjoyment” is very broad. The demarcation of public and private areas, although seemingly sharp is sometimes vague. In addition, different societies at various times in history have placed more or less attention on the creation and maintenance of public space. Public space is important to urban sociologists who recognize that it serves as a setting for community activities or public life, for example, parades, meetings, and informal gatherings. They also observe how it can be a magnet for community organization; for example, groups unite in designing, developing, maintaining, and protecting public spaces.

In many cities new buildings are going up at an unprecedented pace. Massive gated communities are being built for the middle class, exacerbating the gulf between rich and poor. Traditional neighborhoods are being replaced by towering skyscrapers and civic institutions like schools and libraries often end up looking like fortresses. This trend has spread around the globe and it is damaging the fabric of cities everywhere. So such public spaces are really the right solution between high-rise buildings.

Urban Life (the nexus between micro and macro sociology)

public space, communication Bogotá - Colombia - 2014

The Colombian city of Bogotá is one where the divide between rich and poor had long been in­grained in the city’s fabric, with many parts of the city suffering from economic and geographic isola­tion. Over the last 20 years, the city’s leaders, notably former mayor Enrique Peñalosa, have embarked on a citywide campaign to use public space and transportation systems to bridge the social divide and create opportunity for all of Bogotá’s citizens.

Central to the campaign has been the development of the TransMilenio bus rapid transit system, which provides fast, efficient, and reasonably priced public transportation to large areas of the city. Some 1.4 million people ride the system daily, and when it is completed there will be 388 kilometers of route, achieved at a fraction of the cost that an underground metro system would have cost.

Another key aspect of the holistic approach that Bogotá has taken to its transformation is the Ciclo­vía. Each Sunday and on holidays, for several hours, most streets of the city are closed to cars so that people can enjoy biking, walking, and various recreational activities in the streets. These events have helped to raise awareness of the negative impact that car traffic has on people’s lives, and have been a key part of the city’s ongoing effort to regain street space for pedestrians and bicycles. City leaders cracked down on sidewalk parking; pedestrianized Jimenez Avenue, the main street downtown; and introduced a system that restricted car use during rush hour.

Peñalosa also led an effort to increase green space and playing fields in neighborhoods around Bogotá. The result has been a decrease in crime and gang activity. Many citizens who were formerly without recreational options can now enjoy safe, healthy outdoor activities that are inclusive of wom­en and children.

Fig 03. Ciclo­vía in Bogotá takes over the streets once a week.

Photo: Placemaking and the Future of Cities

Urban Life (the nexus between micro and macro sociology)

village in the city, urbanization, micro renewal, regeneration Guangzhou - China - 1998 Context: The photo was shot in 1998, Guangzhou, China, the period which China was experiencing a rapidurbanization. It was a memory that these people were asked to leave from the land because the city sprawl. The spot now is the new center of Guangzhou. These people came from another province 500miles away, rent the local land to plant vegetables for living. The house behind were in very poor condition, no electricity, no water supply. And they just came here few months ago and had to moving again.

In 2008, China set out to merge Guangzhou and its eight neighbouring cities, into one megalopolis. This is a move that has seen the most rapid urbanisation in human history. In doing so, the city has moved away from its agricultural roots to become a contemporary tech hub. It is now one of the largest exporters of electronics and auto-parts in the world. So what happens to those farmers who have been left behind? Amongst the sky-high concrete jungle and below the intertwining lanes of tarmac rests acres of farmland. The horizon, a sea of approaching cranes and skyscrapers casts a long shadow over the fertile land.

China now has over 100 cities with over 1 million residents, a number that is likely to double in the next decade. As the farmers are forced to move into urbanised areas to pursue alternative lines of work; people from different cultural backgrounds are mixing and having to live side by side. That dissonance between rural and urban, past and present, is on stark display.

Fig 04. Guangzhou, China in 1998.

Photo: China Photographers Association

Urban Life (the nexus between micro and macro sociology)

12/26/2018

Dongguan Street in Dalian to be reconstructed - Xinhua | English.news.cn

Dongguan Street in Dalian to be reconstructed English.news.cn | 2015-10-12 13:11:40 | Editor: Mengjie

http://www.xinhuanet.com//english/photo/2015-10/12/c_134705294_7.htm

Fig 05. Dongguan Street in Dalian City in 2015.

Photo: Xinhua/Pu Feng

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Urban Life (the nexus between micro and macro sociology)

urbanization, traditional lifestyle and modern lifestyle, historic block, micro renewal, regeneration Dongguan Street - Dalian City - China - 2015 Context: Photo taken on Oct. 11, 2015 shows an old residential building at Dongguan Street in Dalian City, northeast China’s Liaoning Province. Dongguan Street, a neighborhood with about 100 years history, is scheduled to be reconstructed in 2015, according to the local municipal planning.

At the center of Dalian is the area called Dongguan Street, whose buildings were mostly built in the early 20th century and designated as “unmovable cultural relics” by the city government in 2009. People live here are in poor conditions, but outside that district there are modern architecture around.

The city is a place where cultural contexts are interwoven, which is the highest embodiment of the memory and history. If the cultural context of the block is the essence of the city, then the historical block is the carrier of the city’s soul.

With the spread of modernist planning, the uneven development of urban space is becoming increasingly obvious. The cultural context of the block as the soul of a city is drying up day after day. The artificial city after repeated reconstruction rapidly occupies the most area of the city, and the historical and cultural blocks surrounded have increasingly narrow space. Historical blocks gradually formed and developed in the long process of historical development, the continuous renewal maintains their own vitality and at the same time accumulates the culture and style of the times. Dalian Dongguan block is one of the few existing historical streets that blend Chinese and Western cultures, but its original aesthetic value, cultural memory and environmental diversity have been gradually buried, so the renovation of Dongguan block is of great significance for the continuation of the city’s historical and cultural context. Micro-renewal is not to achieve a final state of the city but create a viable way for self-development of the historical block so that the crack between the city and the historic block can be rewoven to continue the city’s memory and soul.

And in view that the current physical environmental of Dongguan Block is severely damaged and the residents have moved out, etc., the micro renewal can’t be completely and directly applied to the renovation of Dongguan Block.

Therefore it requires a detailed survey to research and create a micro renewal environment.

Urban Life (the nexus between micro and macro sociology)

Fig 06. The human Scale - Documentary Movie Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxywJRJVzJs https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2414454/plotsummary?ref_=tt_ov_pl

Urban Life (the nexus between micro and macro sociology)

DOCUMENTARY MOVIE : The Human Scale Director: Andreas Dalsgaard Writer: Andreas Dalsgaard 2012 Context: 50% of the world’s population lives in urban areas. By 2050 this will increase to 80%. Life in a mega city is both enchanting and problematic. Today we face peak oil, climate change, loneliness and severe health issues due to our way of life. But why? The Danish architect and professor Jan Gehl has studied human behavior in cities through 40 years. He has documented how modern cities repel human interaction, and argues that we can build cities in a way, which takes human needs for inclusion and intimacy into account. THE HUMAN SCALE meets thinkers, architects and urban planners across the globe. It questions our assumptions about modernity, exploring what happens when we put people into the center of our planning.

The Human Scale documentary did not only criticize traffic. It provided some ways to make cities greener, with pedestrian-friendly places to rest, offering a place for a conversation between friends or occasional meetings. The intention is to draw people together, so they can hear their own voices, greet others and let children play with their neighbours in the street. Jan Gehl describes a vision for this kind of city. In his words: “If the urban space has no quality, people do not spend time there except for absolutely necessary activities… A good urban space allows a completely different range of human activities.”

Gehl further describes the current situation: “Children prefer watching TV because they are bored by the outdoors. For the elderly it is not enjoyable to sit on benches, because there is hardly anything to see there…”9. He sees the solution as building terraced houses with front gardens instead of blocks of flats; by making more pedestrian-friendly environments with places to sit (benches, stairs, plinths, steps, fountains); by planning optimal locations of sidewalks and outdoor rest areas; and by arranging benches at regular intervals and designing them to encourage comfortable encounters and communication (for example, placing them at right angles). Other ways to bring life into streets, according to Gehl, include designing zigzagging and interrupted streets rather than long, straight routes. He recommends colonnades, awnings and parasols providing shelter, shade and variability and emphasises the importance of appropriate lighting, eliminating traffic noise, and making natural windbreaks with trees and shrubs.

He also mentions the junctions between indoor and outdoor public space. The fewer the barriers (stairs, floors, elevators or receptions), the easier and therefore more likely it will be for people to be outside.

II_Places and non places (Micro Sociology) Space & Society

Places and non places (Micro Sociology)

non-place Underpass in Shanghai, China, 2016 Context: Occupying a central place at the frantic intersection of Xi Dajie, Dong Dajie, Bei Dajie and Nan Dajie, the domineering form of the Bell Tower originally housed a huge bell that was rung sonorously at dawn. Initially standing two blocks to the west, it dates from the 14th century and was later rebuilt in the 1700s.

The underpass connects transportation hubs and 4 important high-rise buildings.

It realizes pedestrian and vehicle separation and activates the public service function of the underground space as well as a exhibition space for modern arts.

Fig 07. The underpass around the Bell Tower in Shanghai, China, 2016 Source: people.com.cn

Places and non places (Micro Sociology)

non-place Greenwich Foot Tunnel, London, England, UK - 2015 Context: Opened in 1902, the Greenwich Foot Tunnel cuts 50 feet deep below the surface to take pedestrians under the River Thames from Greenwich to the Isle of Dogs. The cast iron tunnel is 1,215 feet long and covered with around 200,000 white tiles. It was created as a way for workers who lived in south London to get to work at the docks on the Isle of Dogs, replacing a ferry service, although now it offers 24 hour access to any travelers who need to cross the London river. During World War II, the northern end of the tunnel was damaged in the London bombing, and there you can see it reinforced with a concrete lining and thick steel. To enter the tunnel, look for the glazed dome buildings for access into the underground passageway. Renovation work to install new lifts and improve drainage started in 2009 and was completed in 2014 after delay.

Access to the tunnel is by stairs or lifts. Although a foot tunnel, Greenwich council is trialling the use of a “shared” cycling and pedestrian use at less busy times.

Non-place - It is a place we do not live in, in which the individual remains anonymous and lonely. ‘If a place can be defined as relational historical and concerned with identity, then a space which cannot be defined as relational, or historical, or concerned with identity will be a non-place’ (Marc Augé. Non-places: Introduction to arn Anthropology of Supermodernity). Globalisation and urbanisation are creating ever more of these Ballardian ‘non-places’ homogenised, anonymous spaces where we spend so much of our time, in ‘a world... surrendered to solitary individuality, to the fleeting, the Temporary and the ephemeral My work, influenced by the concept of psychogeography, explores the passage of ime, identity and alienation in ‘non-places of transit.

Fig 08. Greenwich Foot Tunnel, London, England, UK. Goes under the River Thames at Greenwich Photo: Sarah Peters

Places and non places (Micro Sociology)

place or non- place Venice, Italy, 2017 Context: Located in the northeast of Italy, Venice is formed from 118 islands and 175 canals connected by 444 bridges. Those same factors have created this unique, unique architecture of this city. With a convenient location at the intersection of sea trade routes between a large part of Western Europe and the rest of the world, Venice quickly became a maritime empire and an important area of preparation. ​​ for Crusades as well as an important trade center of the Renaissance Europe Good city design is about maximizing the ratio of Place:Non-Place. While not all non-places are bad, it is desirable to keep them to a neccessary minimum to ensure that a city remains inviting, charming, interesting, safe, and walkable. If you’re in the mindset that cities are places for people, not cars, then good city design and a high Place:Non-Place ratio will inheriently come out of it. Even a badly design city may be efficient at moving people around and may have a strong economy, but cities are living organic entities that contain people, not machines. How a city designs and functions affects the quality of life of thousands, if not millions, of people - and the ability to maximize the quality of life of not just us, but also those around us, is the ultimate pursuit of happiness.

Fig 09. Venice, Italy, 2017 Photo: Tom Podmore

Places and non places (Micro Sociology)

Fig 10. Jinnah Hospital Underpass, Canal Bank Rd (Jinnah Hospital), Lahore, Pakistan, 2017 Photo: Anosh Nadeem Butt

Places and non places (Micro Sociology)

non-place Jinnah Hospital Underpass, Canal Bank Rd (Jinnah Hospital), Lahore, Pakistan, 2017 The understanding of place, non-place and space can very well be done using our insight and knowledge. We can begin by describing how the analyst described space. Upon a broader perspective space can be seen as a junction and an interweavement of mobile bodies. Place has been described as something which is relational, historical and concerned with identity. Space is more abstract in itself than place, which is used to refer towards, a myth, an event or history. On the other hand non-place being the exact opposite of place, something cannot be related to, and doesn’t have connections towards history and identity.

Time has crafted and carved out its own ways in cities and upon the urban fabric, super modernity has caused the large increase of non-places, causing lack of integration into the existing places. The world has submitted to the singular individuality. Equivalent aspects are present upon discussion of place or nonplace. Place and non-place are present in a very strange relationship, while the former tries to retain its essence by not being completely diminished, the latter trying its utmost best to be perfectly present.

Distinction between the two, place and non-place, derives from the opposition between place and spaces. Space as a word itself is used frantically for meeting rooms, auditoriums, parks, gardens, aircrafts, cars, expresses directly towards the concept of individuality which is prevailing. Non-place can also been seen as an absence of place itself.

This can be seen in direct relation with the Azaadi Chowk as a non-place adding upon the silhouette of Badshahi Mosque as a place. The non-place has added negative quantification to space. Micheal de Certeau enumerates further, that proper names impose coming from the other, the names appearing cause diversion in sense that they cannot be predicted in advance, they cause the creation of non-places, turning into just passages. This again can be seen in context of our own city, after the renaming of the underpasses, an example of Jinnah Hospital Underpass turning into Chakar-e-Azam Rind underpass consequences to the same outcome. What seem non-places to individuals may not seem non-places to the government due to super modernity.

Places do still continue to resettle themselves, its relation with non-places are restored and resumed. Elements of spectacle are requisite for history to prevail.

Commercialism has caused the world of consumerism, which has caused every individual to make his own. Places and spaces, places and non-places are all in a state of entanglement. By the passage of time, and through the amalgamation of old and new can be seen through modernity, whereas super modernity has caused places to be viewed from a specific spectacle, due to the creation of non-places.

Places and non places (Micro Sociology)

Fig 11. Empire State Building Street, New York City, 2012 Photo: newworldeconomics

Places and non places (Micro Sociology)

non-place street Empire State Building Street, New York City, 2012 There exists certain situations where a street can become a non-place, despite technically being a place and having the physical qualities of a street. A street needs to be designed for people for it to be a place. If a street is not designed for people, then it can become a non-place street.

Abandoned streets are non-places. These are streets devoid of life, that people purposely avoid, and feel asthetically uninviting. An abandoned street is still technically a street but it’s very inhuman and unpleasing and just occupies space that could be put to better use. All you have around you are walls. There is nothing to do on this street so it just feels cold and souless. There is nothing wrong with having tall buildings, but keep the ground level interesting by integrating human scale retail into the base of the building.

This photo shows the Empire State Street. The Empire State Building should be used as a model for good skyscraper design. Despite being next to a 101 story building, it doesn’t feel as intimidating as the flat concrete wall from the previous image. This is because they built the bottom of the building at a human scale - with human scale shops facing the street. It’s not until you look up that you notice how tall the building really is. They make use of the traditional human-scale 5 story building as a pedestal for a much larger skyscraper to combine the best of both worlds. This pedestal design allows for progressive setbacks as the height increases so that at street level you do not feel claustrophobic, while still allowing you to build an incredibly tall building. Wide streets are just as bad as abandoned streets. The occasional wide street can be good, but in a lot of cases they are simply too wide for their purpose.

Good city design is about maximizing the ratio of Place:Non-Place. While not all non-places are bad, it is desirable to keep them to a neccessary minimum to ensure that a city remains inviting, charming, interesting, safe, and walkable. If you’re in the mindset that cities are places for people, not cars, then good city design and a high Place:Non-Place ratio will inheriently come out of it. Even a badly design city may be efficient at moving people around and may have a strong economy, but cities are living organic entities that contain people, not machines. How a city designs and functions affects the quality of life of thousands, if not millions, of people - and the ability to maximize the quality of life of not just us, but also those around us, is the ultimate pursuit of happiness.

Places and non places (Micro Sociology)

non places try to be places Subway station platform in New York , 2017.

All of the land used within a city can be classified into two categories: places and non-places. Places are for people. Places are destinations that a person would go out of their way to purposely visit. Whether it’s a place to sleep, a place to shop, a place of employment, a place for entertainment, or simply a place to relax - it has a purpose and adds value to a city. Building interiors are the most popular common types of places found in cities.

Non-places on the other hand are not designed for people, and are not destinations. They do not bring value, or a reason for people to visit or live in a city.

In most cases they’re used for transportation and fill the space between places Metro station is supposed to be a non places, neutral, passing-by, crowed but no communication. This picture is showed the interior details textures, symbols try turning the non places into places, which has identity and historical information.

Fig 12. Subway station platform in New York , 2017.

Photo: Natan Dvir

III_Proxemics, human beings and space (Micro Sociology) Space & Society

Proxemics, human beings and space (Micro Sociology)

Fig 13. July 2018, Denmark Photo: Zhong Xiaotian

Proxemics, human beings and space (Micro Sociology)

Public distance A public space, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2018 Context: Lots of people hang out for sunbathing and diving on the ashore. We can observe that between each group they stay in certain distance which is further than each people in the group. That’s a kind of micro sociology.

Man has many of the proxemics needs and values of lower life forms, but these have been modified with the complexities of human thought, experience, art, literature, and living/working s pace. Further, man has created a number of extensions of himself, all of which impact his use of space and his relationship to his environment.

Public distance: Several important sensory shifts occur in the transition from the personal and social distances to public distance, which is well outside the circle of involvement. (spatial experience) II includes the distances maintained in encounters with other.

Public distance applies to areas of 12 feet or more. This is the distance that you share with a person giving a speech or for example, a professor lecturing to a class. We attribute this public distance to these settings because of the implications that go along with breaking these boundaries.

There are many different reasons why people choose to establish distance to different situations and groups of people. Distance is such a natural thing to us that most of us do it without even thinking about it. It can involve everything from choosing to sit on the other side of the library from a group of people you do not know, to kissing your girlfriend when she comes to the door. Each one of these distances have different meanings and are communicated in a special way. One of the most outstanding reasons for using distance zones is safety.

Keeping strangers at a public distance prevents you from being surprised from a threatening action and allows you to anticipate danger. This is why you generally stay away from people while walking down ally ways. On the other hand, distance zones can also be used to show threat and even inform another person that they are in danger. By invading space, one can communicate their intentions to do harm to another person. Communication is an obvious yet important aspect of distance as well. The distance zones we choose with the people around us can communicate very different things.

Proxemics, human beings and space (Micro Sociology)

Fig 14. Lawn chairs are placed in Times Square to foster human interaction in the city.

Photo by Kathy Silberger@Flickr.

Proxemics, human beings and space (Micro Sociology)

Public distance Time Square, New York City, June 11, 2009 Context: Times Square has been closed off to automotive traffic. There are hundreds of lawns chairs where the cars used to drive. Today was a beautiful Saturday in the upper 70s. Walking around Times Square was so much fun. The lawn chairs in Times Square form a new initiative of the city to open up parts of the town to pedestrians with a traffic ban between 47th and 42nd Streets, turning the once bustling crowded sidewalks and honking horns of thick traffic into a giant urban picnic. The city placed brightly colored lawn chairs along the street to encourage pedestrian traffic. It worked!

In 2009 the New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) initiated a Pilot Streets Program that called for the temporary closure of Broadway between 47th and 42nd Streets to all vehicular traffic. With Times Square and the Green Light for Midtown project as a central case study, this thesis explores the methods behind the temporary project approach. How does this approach differ from more conventional planning methods? What performance indicators are used to evaluate project results and impacts? What quantitative and qualitative factors influence the decision to make the provisional project permanent? Can this strategy serve as an alternative approach to the more conventional and longer duration implementation methods practiced widely across the US? Can it build public support for such initiatives? The Green Light in Midtown project was implemented in a very short time period, at low cost, based on an explicit commitment of government to assess the performance of the project over an eightmonth period in relation to a set of measurable criteria. Measurements showed that diverted traffic moved more quickly, injuries to motorists and pedestrians declined, and pedestrian activity increased, while more qualitative assessments were difficult to achieve. This innovative project approach shows signs of success in making large-scale policies and programs tangible to residents, workers, stakeholders and visitors.tions to do harm to another person. Communication is an obvious yet important aspect of distance as well. The distance zones we choose with the people around us can communicate very different things.

Proxemics, human beings and space (Micro Sociology)

social distance, the hidden dimension Bus stop in the street, Finland, 2018 The next, and most common distance, is social space. Social space occurs within 4 to 12 feet of another person. This distance is reserved for strangers and new acquaintances. These are typically the people that you pass in the hall at school or see walking in the street. If a situation presents itself that requires you to speak to these people, you will more than likely keep them at a bit of a distance.

Social distance describes the distance between different groups in society and is opposed to locational distance. The notion includes differences such as social class, race/ethnicity, gender or sexuality, but also the fact that the different groups mix less than members of the same group. The term is often applied in cities, but its use is not limited to that.

Social distance refers to the level of acceptance people have of others outside of their own social group or class. This level of acceptance is defined by their general feelings towards others, and the amount of social interaction they have with people whose characteristics are outside their social norm. It is a measure of perceived difference (or distance) between groups, and can be either small, when people are accepting of others, or large, when people reject other groups. As a social construct, social distance is a familiar issue. Many common phrases refer to social distance, such as ‘out of your league’ and ‘birds of a feather flock together.’ These social norms are ingrained in our collective consciousness.

Fig 15. Personal space in Finland, 2018 Source: edunation.co

Proxemics, human beings and space (Micro Sociology)

public distance Canteen of Beijing University, 2016 In the crowded canteen, people would like to sit face-to-face with their friends and chat during having the meal. But when the strangers have to sit at the same table, they always sit diagonally.

The different distance zones include intimate distance, personal distance, social distance, and public distance. Each one of these different zones are used to nonverbally communicate our feelings to our surroundings. Every day, people are confronted with situations that call for different uses of distance in there communication. Some settings call for an intimate distance, while others require more of a public distance. A person would not walk into an interview and engage their interviewer at an intimate distance because it would be totally inappropriate and quite awkward. This same rule is the reason one may feel uncomfortable standing face to face with a complete stranger on a bus. Understanding these different distances will allow a person to avoid inappropriate and often awkward situations.

Fig 16. Canteen of Beijing University, 2016 Source: weibo.com

Proxemics, human beings and space (Micro Sociology)

Fig 17. Team work Photo: leadershipone

Proxemics, human beings and space (Micro Sociology)

personal distance Teamwork Intimate distances are used between people in a private setting. These are considered to be encounters of 0-18 inches and are confidential in nature. The people that are generally granted access to one’s intimate space are significant others and family. Intimate distance is such a smaller distance because it is invited and earned. We allow these people into this small zone because we trust them and acknowledge them as a significant person in our lives. It is the same reason we are uncomfortable when a person we are not familiar with gives an unexpected hug or kiss.

Personal space is considered to be an area of about 1.5 to 3 feet. This space is reserved for friends and even co-workers. These are people that you are comfortable around and have a good relationship with. In many ways we use personal distance to create a professional atmosphere. In a work setting it is often necessary to be in a close distance with a coworker. This is accepted because it is necessary, so even if the coworker would typically be considered to be a stranger or someone that you would not let into such a close distance zone, it is acceptable. Clearly, no matter the culture, the distance zones that we choose for different groups and people can communicate our feelings towards them in very powerful ways.

Personal space is the region surrounding a person which they regard as psychologically theirs. Most people value their personal space and feel discomfort, anger, or anxiety when their personal space is encroached. Permitting a person to enter personal space and entering somebody else’s personal space are indicators of perception of those people’s relationship. An intimate zone is reserved for close friends, lovers, children and close family members. Another zone is used for conversations with friends, to chat with associates, and in group discussions. A further zone is reserved for strangers, newly formed groups, and new acquaintances. A fourth zone is used for speeches, lectures, and theater; essentially, public distance is that range reserved for larger audiences.

Entering somebody’s personal space is normally an indication of familiarity and sometimes intimacy. However, in modern society, especially in crowded urban communities, it can be difficult to maintain personal space, for example when in a crowded train, elevator or street. Many people find such physical proximity to be psychologically disturbing and uncomfortable, though it is accepted as a fact of modern life. In an impersonal, crowded situation, eye contact tends to be avoided. Even in a crowded place, preserving personal space is important, and intimate and sexual contact, such as frotteurism and groping, are unacceptable physical contact.

The amygdala is suspected of processing people’s strong reactions to personal space violations since these are absent in those in which it is damaged and it is activated when people are physically close.

IV_Migration and the urban space (macro sociology): diversity, inequalities Space & Society

Migration and the urban space (macro sociology): diversity, inequalities

multiculturalism, diversity August 16, 2014, Vancouver street, Canada This photo of street art is taken in Vancouver which definitely shows the diversity of different nations. Vancouver is a mix of different religions, ethnicities, and cultural groups from all over the world and Canada’s Indigenous communities.

As Vancouver develops into a trade centre on the Pacific coast, immigrants from different cultural backgrounds have also moved to the area, making Vancouver’s ethnic structure increasingly diverse. Also, the governments value this diversity, because it is a source of the city’s strength, vitality, and prosperity.

Although some of racism and discrimination exists, Vancouver mayor still has a positive direction to figure out this issue.

Vancouver is often considered cosmopolitan and multicultural. However, one attribute does not necessarily imply the second. Cosmopolitan comes from the ancient Greek kosmopolitês, which means “citizen of the world,” whereas “multi” is a Latin prefix denoting many and therefore implying multiplicity. A cosmopolitan city is a city where everyone picks some parts of the different cultures existing in the city to create its own identity, whereas a multicultural city is a city where these different cultures just live together. Thus, it seems a city should be multicultural before being cosmopolitan. What about Vancouver? Cosmopolitan and/or multicultural? This experience is lived out in as many ways as the city has inhabitants. Here is one tale amongst so many others.

Fig 18. Graffies artwork on Vancouver street, Canada Source: Jason DeVoll via flickr.com

Migration and the urban space (macro sociology): diversity, inequalities

urban space Nørrebro, Copenhagen, Denmark Superkilen is a half-mile-long urban space that runs through one of Denmark’s most ethnically diverse and socially challenging neighborhoods. One of the main ideas in the program is to design it into a huge exhibition of urban best practices, with objects from all over the world, from the people of 60 different nationalities living around it.

Each item is equipped with a small stainless steel plate embedded in the ground to describe the item in Danish and the language of the country of origin: what it is and where it comes from.

This surrealist collection of global urban diversity actually reflects the true nature of the local community, rather than continuing the rigid image of the Danish single race. This is a gathering place for multi-cultural people. People of different nationalities live here. They know each other through participation in activities and sports. Even many tourists come here. Every day, different cultures collide with each other.

Fig 19. Square in Nørrebro, Copenhagen Photo: Iwan Baan

Migration and the urban space (macro sociology): diversity, inequalities

multiculturalism, diversity Sculpture: Bridging Home, Do Ho Suh, London, 2018 Context: It is an installation by Korean artist Do Ho Suh. Erected on the footbridge over Wormwood Street, the piece is co-commissioned by Art Night and Sculpture In The City. The structure is a to-scale replica of the traditional Hanok-style Korean house that Suh grew up in, along with a bamboo garden. The installation appears to have dropped out of the sky and crash landed on the bridge.

The work is a response to the migrant history of the East End and the City, along with inspiration from Suh’s own heritage. Nowaday, The diversity of culture brings us the chance to experience different cultures via public space in urban.

Commissioned by art night and sculpture in the city to respond to the migrant history of the east end, do ho suh has created a replica of a traditional korean house, his childhood home, and surrounding bamboo garden, which appears to have ‘fallen’ onto the footbridge. located between tall buildings in the city of london, near liverpool street station, the work is at once an alien structure and a humble domestic space. ‘it is hugely rewarding to create a public work in london, my adopted home,’ says do ho suh. ‘for me, a building is more than just space. it is not only physical but also metaphorical and psychological. in my work I want to draw out these intangible qualities of energy, history, life and memory. while bridging home, london comes from personal experience, I hope it is something a lot of people can relate to.’

‘Bridging home, london’ considers how the built environment shapes our relationships to both the public and private spheres. the installation asks viewers about what it means to belong, and how we carry an idea of home with us, regardless of geographic location. curated by fatoş üstek, the work will be installed for at least six months.

Fig 20. Bridging Home, Do Ho Suh, London, 2018 Source: londonist.com

Migration and the urban space (macro sociology): diversity, inequalities

intergration The integration day in Ireland, 2017 Gaelic Sports is a traditional sport in Ireland, such as Gaelic football, cricket,and Gaelic handball, among which football and cricket are most popular. In the past few decades, Ballyhonis has become Ireland’s most culture diverse town due to the influx of immigrants from South Asia, Eastern Europe and Africa. In recent years, the traditional Gaelic Sports has become a good tool to assist immigrants to integrate into Irish society.

Fig 21. The integration day in Ireland, 2017 Source: https://www.outside.hk

Migration and the urban space (macro sociology): diversity, inequalities

immigration, multiculturalism Chicago’s Chinatown, US, 2013 It’s a picture of China town in Chicago. We try to understand the Sayad’s word ‘State’,which is ’ the limit, or the very nature of the state to discriminate the ‘nationals’ it recognizes itself ’. We can see from the picture many typical colors, yellow and red. Symbols, for example this door and the roof; characters. these elements are very different from the backgroud modern style. And some of them are very common all of the China towns. But honestly as a Chinese, I found them dramatic and Stereotype, even ugly. Maybe this is the basic things and characteristics to distinguish from other nations , that means the ‘limit state, Maybe hidden in our demestic daily life.

Fig 22. China town in Chicago Source: https://imageryphoto.net/2013/06/05/chinatown-chicago/”

Migration and the urban space (macro sociology): diversity, inequalities

immigration, multiculturalism French National football team over 34 years.

Improper immigration will lead to conflicts between ethnic groups and social groups, which may lead to social exclusion and division, secondary poverty, social instability, increasing the economic burden to the state and local governments, and it can also deteriorating the living environment.

But immigrants can also expand the living space of human beings, promot the expansion of geographical space of production, the spread of human civilization, the assimilation and integration of races and nationalities, the development of society, economy and culture, the self-pursuit and selfimprovement of human beings, regional economic growth, the improvement of people’s living quality, and the improvement of the relationship between human beings and nature. The world and the culture is changing all the time based on the immigration and we are all immigrants.

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2018 French National Team Fig 23. The change of squad, color, nationality in the French National football team over 34 years.

V_The Urban Question: The Conceptualizations of the Urban and Urbanization, From 1970s till Today Space & Society

The Urban Question: The Conceptualizations of the Urban and Urbanization, From 1970s till Today

urbanization, air pollution An elevated highway in China, 2015 With the urbanization of the city, more and more towers, factories and double highways are established especially in China during these decades. Urbanization brought a lot of advantages for sure, but it still remained some problems need to be solved. For instance, air pollution, traffic jam, insufficient illumination‌ Then solving the problems brought by urbanization is a step of urbanization as well.

Air pollution is killing about 4,000 people in China a day, accounting for one in six premature deaths in the world’s most populous country, a new study finds.

Physicists at the University of California, Berkeley, calculated about 1.6 million people in China die each year from heart, lung and stroke problems because of incredibly polluted air, especially small particles of haze. Earlier studies put the annual Chinese air pollution death toll at one to two million but this is the first to use newly released air monitoring figures.

The study, to be published in the journal PLOS One, blames emissions from the burning of coal, both for electricity and heating homes. It uses real air measurements and then computer model calculations that estimate heart, lung and stroke deaths for different types of pollutants.

Fig 24. An elevated highway in China, 2015 Source: weibo.com

The Urban Question: The Conceptualizations of the Urban and Urbanization, From 1970s till Today

urban space Chinese Urbanism in Africa, Kilamba Kiaxi in Luanda, Angola.

We came into an era called “Urban age”. Since the longs 1980s, a dramatic wave of urban restructuring across the planet, which is a Global restructuring.

China’s influence in Africa is growing quickly on many levels. All across the continent, Chinese companies are creating new highways, light rail systems, Special Economic Zones, and mass housing developments. Cities designed by Chinese architecture firms, financed by Chinese banks, and built by Chinese contractors.

It is totally a economic and capital oriented development without considering the context of local, which may cause big conflict and problem.

Nowhere in the modern world has the phenomenon of territorial and social transformation been more rapid, comprehensive and all- encompassing than in China.

Fig 25. Chinese Urbanism in Africa, Kilamba Kiaxi in Luanda, Angola.

Source: Exhibition by journalist Michiel Hulshof and architect Daan Roggeveen

The Urban Question: The Conceptualizations of the Urban and Urbanization, From 1970s till Today

urbanization, urban age Raised bricks installed to prevent people from lying down, UK, 2016 The rapid urbanization process has caused a large number of people from rural areas to adapt to urban life, or lose their homes because of new urban construction projects, agricultural land is withdrawn, In addition to population growth, poverty and economic development, the number of homeless people increases rapidly. This is a problem in parallel with the development, the disparity between rich and poor is too large. Poverty also increases the risk of war and terror to regain social balance. In some big cities have purposely designed public places in ways that restrict “undesirables” – like the homeless – from getting too comfortable. These include the use of arms on benches to prevent people from lying down and the addition of spikes on flat surfaces.

Extra security and ubiquitous surveillance – which have increased since the advent of global terrorism – not only discourage gatherings and eliminate services, but they also transform public space in ways that make them even more dangerous. In sum, public spaces have gradually transformed into areas that are less open, less democratic, less comfortable, less enjoyable and less “ours.

Fig 26. Raised bricks installed to prevent people from lying down.

Photo : Kake@ flickr, CC BY-NC-SA

The Urban Question: The Conceptualizations of the Urban and Urbanization, From 1970s till Today

postcolonial urbanism, planetary urbanization, extended Residence block in Shanghai, 2013 Single-use, superblock neighborhoods in Shanghai are separated by wide, busy roads, deterring pedestrian activity. Dozens of housing blocks cluster together in Shanghai. China’s mass urban housing is more complex than it appears. Many of the apartment blocks are filled with middle-class families that enjoy modern conveniences like central heating and private showers, which were unavailable to millions of ordinary Chinese as recently as 20 years ago. But, critics say, the blocks’ Orwellian sameness extinguishes architecture’s ability to express time, enliven space and enrich the human experience.

“Narrow roads, dense street networks” This line has become a popular phrase for Chinese media to summarize an important element of the State Council’s new guidelines: smaller blocks. China’s cities are currently dominated by superblocks—enormous (often 500 meters long or more) expanses of single-use lots, divided by multi-lane streets with wide, dangerous intersections. This type of environment deters pedestrian activities and strongly caters to the automobile, but new focus on smaller blocks will significantly improve pedestrian experiences by promoting safer, more pleasant, more efficient routes. By improving the pedestrian environment, small blocks also reduce car usage and, thus, air pollution.

Fig 27. Residence block in Shanghai, 2013 Source: John J. Kim, Chicago Tribune

The Urban Question: The Conceptualizations of the Urban and Urbanization, From 1970s till Today

democracy of space, right to the city Sculpture: Bridging Home, Do Ho Suh, London, 2018 Right to the City Boston is a multi-issued alliance of grassroots based-building organizations representing low-income, POC/immigrant communities working together for social justice. Alternatives for Community and Environment, Boston Workers Alliance, Chinese Progressive Association, City Life/Vida Urbana, New England United 4 Justice, and Neighbors United for a Better East Boston have all come together under a platform of values and principles - the right to stable community, the right to economic justice and good jobs, the right to democratic participation, the right to public good and the right to a healthy environment.

Right to Remain is a growing popular movement demanding neighborhood stabilization and the Right 2 Remain in Boston. The citywide coalition of groups and organizations are fighting displacement and gentrification at the neighborhood level anchored by Right to the City Boston in partnership with Boston Tenant Coalition. Right to Remain is focused on multiple stabilization policy and advocacy strategies that increase tenant rights and protections, demand community control over land/development, address wealth building in the communities and makes speculators pay.

Fig 28. Boston, US, 2008 Source: Right to the City Boston Photo collection

VI_Segregation, Marginality, stigmatization, poverty (macro sociology) Space & Society

Segregation, Marginality, stigmatization, poverty (macro sociology)

precariat = pecarious + proletariat Child poverty, Istanbul, 2018 The increase in the percentage of children living in families who suffering from severe material deprivation. Children become victims by the rapid growth of the precariat is producing instabilities in society. According to the study of politicians and commentators, the people of the Precariat class have a far more profound experience and perspective than the proletariat has long prevailed.

The consequence of globalization, industrial reforms and revolutions has spurred “labor agility,” which preoccupied the prevalence of widespread unrest, making them a dangerous class. And incresing of segregation.

The European Union defines the criteria for severe material deprivation as a household that cannot afford at least four of the following: Rent payments; mortgage or utility bills; adequate house warming; unexpected expenses; meals involving meat, chicken or fish every second day; a one-week annual holiday away from home; a washing machine, color television, telephone or car.

“From 2015 to 2016, the rate of children living in extreme material poverty in Romania, Greece, the Cyprus, Ireland, and Turkey increased. In other countries, on the other hand, the extreme material poverty among children have decreased.

The fact that most of EU countries have covered a distance in the fight against child poverty, while in Turkey child poverty has increased, shows that policies pursued regarding this issue are not enough,” the report stated.

“The main reason for the gap between regions in terms of material poverty in children is the current great difference between median incomes. The second most important reason is the high average number of children per each household mainly in the eastern regions,” the report added.

Fig 29. Childen in the street Instabul, 2018 Source:hurriyetdailynews

Segregation, Marginality, stigmatization, poverty (macro sociology)

territorial stigma, stigmatization, poverty On Liverpool, Hillsborough and Territorial Stigma, 2017 Liverpool is one of Britain’s major cities and has suffered greatly from stigmatization of its people and location. It has an image of social problems, of the stereotypical Scouser typified by Harry Enfield’s ‘calm down’ caricature, and of dereliction and depravity. The city was plunged into international infamy, following decades of decline, after the 1981 riots in Granby in the Liverpool 8 area of the city. Phil Scraton argues that the city’s portrayal was, in Lord Scarman’s investigation into the riots, tainted with notions of Liverpool’s “‘cultural deficiency’ and moral degeneracy” in explaining the city’s riots.

Territorial stigmatization is separate from other types of stigma and is directed at spaces and places, imbuing these locations with a negative image. Often, the construction of such a negative image is aided by using existing stereotypes and stigmas such as racial or class stereotypes. The application of stereotypes to people living in a certain place, in turn, imbues that location with a negative image, which, as a result of stigma’s ‘stickiness’ latches on to the residents.

Often, residents find that the adhesive nature of territorial stigma follows them even after they relocate.

Fig 30. On Liverpool, Hillsborough and Territorial Stigma Source: ceasefiremagazine.co.uk

Segregation, Marginality, stigmatization, poverty (macro sociology)

unbalance, stigmatization, poverty A sagging house next to the lavish high-rise urban area, Kunming, China, 2016 Behind this dilapidated demolished house is a new city. In this part of the area that was demolished, people are still inhabited because they have no place to live in, and there are still people who are doing business in the hotel because they have to survive.

There are also many migrant workers living in the “remaining” urban villages.

“One wall” seperate city into two parts: on one side of the wall, there is the modern city, but on the other side of the wall, there are some “stigmatization” places with unsatisfactory municipal facilities, chaos and insecurity, building safety and fire hazards problems.

Fig 31. One wall, Kunming, China, 2016 Source: photo.chinanews.com

Segregation, Marginality, stigmatization, poverty (macro sociology)

segregation, marginality, stigmatization Los Angeles Homeless Crisis, the policeman was trying to keep the order.

Nearly 58,000 people are homeless in Los Angeles County, according to a 2017 count, up from 20 percent from the year before. “It’s not illegal to be homeless,” said a homeless people named Kim Sandoval, “but everything we do is illegal.”

Sandoval lives in Orange County, where every city has an ordinance against sleeping on the sidewalks; even publicly feeding the homeless is officially discouraged in some parts of Orange County. The most extreme form of poverty is effectively, if not literally, criminalized — one man testified that he committed a minor crime just so he could sleep legally — in a jail cell.

Sandoval said she’s on a list to receive permanent supportive housing, but that she’s been on it for a year. In the meantime, no landlords want her state-provided vouchers for rent. It is kind of discrimination to poor people.

Fig 32. Los Angeles Homeless Crisis, the policeman was trying to keep the order.

Photo by Charles Davis

VII_Segregation(s), discriminations and their dynamics: a specific case, Gypsies, Roma and Travellers Space & Society

Segregation(s), discriminations and their dynamics: a specific case, Gypsies, Roma and Travellers

gypsies, roma and travellers Context: Italy has been facing a “Gypsy Emergency�. Blaming crime on the increase of Roma immigrants in the past couple of years, authorities are dismantling large Gypsy camps outside of Milan and Rome. The goal was to level the camps before the end of 2010, Prejudice and Discrimination against gypsies pass generation after generation.

Sometimes, Gypsies have built a very bad reputation through the long history, who are always related to thieves, wizards, beggars, and lead a nomadic life.

People can easily judge a roman people as lazy, un trustful, low educated. Such discrimination may reduce the opportunities to improve and change their lives.

And in a isolated camp this situation may pass down generations.

Fig 33. A woman is holding her young picture in her hometown in a makeshift home of immigrants in Rome.

Photo: Andrea Bruce

Segregation(s), discriminations and their dynamics: a specific case, Gypsies, Roma and Travellers

racism against London, 2017 Context: London Gypsies and Travellers is an organisation which challenges social exclusion and discrimination, working for change in partnership with Gypsies and Travellers. It aims to challenge public perceptions of Gypsies and Travellers by asking why people only ever see their ethnicity, not their worth.

Mongan’s awareness that discrimination towards Gypsies and Travellers remains widespread prompted her to abandon her normal reserve about her background and put herself forward for a striking poster campaign launched this month and designed to force people to reassess their attitudes. While similar campaigns in the past have tended to celebrate Gypsies and Travellers for their unique culture, this time the emphasis is on highlighting ordinariness. Her picture will be on billboards beneath the headline: “mother, receptionist, swimmer, taxpayer, volunteer, traveller”. The poster asks: “We are all so many things. So why only pick on one?”

It was a big step to put herself forward. Even now she hesitates before revealing her status as a Traveller to people she doesn’t know and she notes that a lot of other families were unwilling to get involved in the campaign because they were nervous about identifying themselves. Most of her neighbours and relatives think twice before revealing their Traveller background because experience has taught them the response is likely to be negative, even if politeness makes people attempt to conceal their suspicion.

Fig 34. Mena Mongan in one of the campaign posters, London, 2017 Photo: theguardian

Segregation(s), discriminations and their dynamics: a specific case, Gypsies, Roma and Travellers

extreme hostility The River Valley Roma camp outside Rome, 2018 Non-profit organisation Associazione 21 Luglio estimates there are between 120,000 and 180,000 Roma, Sinti and traveller people in Italy, of whom roughly 16,400 live in 148 formally recognized camps like River Village. It says around 9,600 live in smaller, informal camps, largely populated by Romanians. The formal camps are distributed in 87 different towns and cities across the country. Of their residents, 43 percent are Italian citizens, while the rest come from ex-Yugoslav countries – around 3,000 of whom are stateless. In Rome there are 17 camps, of which just six, including River Village, are formally recognized.

Despite Roma making up at most 0.3 percent of Italy’s population, they are subject to extreme hostility from the general public. The taxi driver that took AFP to River Village advocated taking a flame thrower to the camp. The people living in Roma camps are often blamed for a variety of petty crimes like pick-pocketing, copper theft and break-ins.

Fig 35. A boy peeked at the door of a house at the River Valley Roma camp outside Rome Source: Alberto Pizzoli/AFP

Segregation(s), discriminations and their dynamics: a specific case, Gypsies, Roma and Travellers

racism against Roma, 2018 This photo shows that the perimeter wall surrounding the emergency housing is marred with anti-Roma graffiti. The perimeter brick wall surrounding this emergency housing reveals an even more worrying aspect to this story. It is marred with brazenly racist graffiti that threatens Roma people specifically with death and the firebombing of their homes – a warning that would be irresponsible to dismiss, given that this development stands on the site of a previous Roma settlement that was burned down by arsonists in 2013.

Italy’s Roma are bracing themselves for a new wave of persecution in the fallout of the Interior Minister Salvini’s recent call for a census. Despite the fact that the Prime Minister dismissed any census on the basis of ethnicity as “unconstitutional and discriminatory”, it has become clear on the ground that Salvini’s calculated hate speech is prompting hard line responses from municipal authorities and inciting public hostility towards Roma. The danger is that the rule of law will be trumped by the rule of mobsters from Salvini’s far-right League, as they ramp up the anti-Roma bigotry and hate.

Fig 36. Roma, 2018 Photo: Alex Sturrockn

Segregation(s), discriminations and their dynamics: a specific case, Gypsies, Roma and Travellers

DOCUMENTARY MOVIE : Human rights here, Roma rights now Video to promote the campaign ‘Human rights here, Roma rights now’. The video includes footage from Roma communities in Romania, Czech Republic and Italy. It calls on the European commission to take stronger action to fight discrimination against Roma.

These immigrant Roma are abandoned by the government in the most remote areas of the city. Because of racial reasons, they are treated unfairly. This is obvious discrimination.

Only when the government treats Roma and locals justly, the Roma can really be accepted by the public. Like us, they need care and survival.

Cre: Amnesty International

Fig 37. Human rights here, Roma rights now Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD5QGxYe8_g&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR35tlRyoqS7tDjf6C3p3FG8ZR3MV-vGKFhVVoJEdxAlGd1DtLTMt8zwT-U

VIII_Inequalities and auto-segregation phenomena Space & Society

Inequalities and auto-segregation phenomena

gated commnity La Caval, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2014 Context: A birds’ eye view of the Buenos Aires slum La Caval, top, and a gated suburban community, below. La Cava’s jumble of ramshackle plywood homes has grown swiftly in a country where the contrast between rich and poor is particularly obvious.

The massive growth of gated communities was one of the major urban changes during the 1990s in the Buenos Aires suburbs, but urban planners face many problems because of such developments. These upper-class enclaves, using large tracts of land, spring up at the periphery of cities, which are, in developing countries, lower-class residential areas, creating striking urban contrasts. The municipalities of the second suburban ring of Buenos Aires, with high population growth rates and the poorest inhabitants of the whole metropolis, often have limited resources and great difficulties controlling their own urbanisation. Focusing on the example of the municipality of Pilar, 50 km north of Buenos Aires, an epicentre for the gated communities’ boom, this paper shows that planning regulations, often obsolete, are poorly applied. If gated communities generate some economic development, it appears that suburban municipalities and the majority of their residents actually take very little advantage of the arrival of closed affluent neighbourhoods in their localities.

Fig 38. La Caval, Buenos Aires, Argentina Source: Natacha Pisarenko/AP @ theguardian.com

Inequalities and auto-segregation phenomena

inequalities Johannesburg, South Africa, 2015 On a global scale, there are more or less social and economic differences in urban settlements. Although people’s feelings are already very strong, these incomes and education, health, sanitation and infrastructure imbalances will more or less cause significant spatial fragmentation.

Although for some people, social space inequalities are often overlooked. Often, extremely wealthy and privileged communities are only a few meters away from dirty environments and rudimentary homes.

“The difference in people’s lifestyles is sometimes difficult to see from the ground.

The beauty of being able to fly is to look at things from a new angle – to look at the true colors of things. Looking down from a few hundred meters high, Unbelievable inequalities have emerged. Some communities have explicitly considered separation during design, and some communities have developed organically.” — Johnny Miller

Fig 39. Johannesburg, South Africa, 2015 Photo : Johnny Miller

Inequalities and auto-segregation phenomena

inequality is rising New York, US, 2013 Context: Above all, the amount of bonuses worries many critics because it contributes massively to economic inequality in the US: Bank of India employees in New York look down on demonstrators on the “Occupy Wall Street� movement.

(Archive from 17 September 2013) Image: Joshua Lott / Reuters This photo shows workers in a bank watch as Occupy Wall Street protesters march in New York as part of the populist movement protesting economic inequality. As for the roots of inequality, in many instances, the historical roots of intercountry inequalities lie in slavery and colonialism. This is too often overlooked by contemporary economic analyses whose timeline is generally quite narrow.

Intracountry and intercountry inequalities interplay in the world economy. The increasing polarisation of the income shares of capital and labour is embedded in an equally polarised global division of labour.

Fig 40. Demonstrate against inequality in New York Photo by Reuters/Joshua Lott

Inequalities and auto-segregation phenomena

self-segregation How the England football team came to embody Englishness London, 2015 Context: England’s U20 players appear to be divided along racial lines in this picture but there is no split on the field Reporter Kevin Quigley had snatched up U20 in the lunch scene and practiced in an “unusual” way. At the meal, a table was set aside for the white players and another table for the colored players. This split is also seen at the swimming pool or during cycling in the gym. Although no one has officially spoken yet, concerns about racism are gradually emerging.

English football federation is often very focused on racism in football. Previously, former Liverpool player Luis Suarez was heavily punished after scandals with Patrice Evra. John Terry was stripped of the captain’s arm despite his refusal to insult Anton Ferdinand - brother of teammate Rio Ferdinand.

Yet nobody claimed the squad was fractured by animosity or distrust. Other photographs, in less structured situations, showed no split at all. It was just interesting that, socially, the players did not seek out clubmates but others perceived to be from the same social background. Football is a multi-racial sport in England and has been for many years. There were no accusations of racism, or exclusion. It just made us shift uncomfortably to see the limitations of our society laid bare.

Auto-segregation or self-segregation is the separation of a religious or ethnic group from the rest of society in a state by the group itself. Self-segregation splits people into diverse groups and, which can have significant consequences and harmful effects on the people. They tend to stay in their racial, gender, religious, or social groups. In modern days, the causes of self-segregation have built up: prejudice, seeking an identity, and anxious interactions. Thus, they separate themselves into like communities, which may let them feel comfortable. Some people are also seeking for identity in the group, while some may feel nervous when they interact with other group people, so they sink into their community.

Fig 41. How the England football team came to embody Englishness Photo by Kevin Quigley

IX_Globalization, global cities and the Rise of New Inequalities Space & Society

Globalization, global cities and the Rise of New Inequalities

economic crisis, economic globalization, inequality Burkina Faso, 2014 Context: African cotton growers are relatively marginalized in negotiations over prices for seed cotton, fertilizers, and pesticides vis-à-vis ginning and marketing companies, as well as in dealings with cotton trading companies that set prices based on world markets. Cotton trades globally in U.S. dollars, and yet currencies in Burkina Faso and Mali are pegged to the Euro. The recent devaluation of the dollar relative to the Euro thus reduced cotton farmers’ returns on their internationally traded crops. U.S. cotton subsidies result in overproduction by U.S. producers, who generate 40 percent of global cotton production—thereby suppressing global cotton prices. As a result, farmers in West Africa, who do not have access to similar subsidies, face lower prices on international markets, resulting in lowered incomes.

We live in an unequal world in which descriptors of global inequality especially inequalities in income abound. The recent past has also seen rapid economic globalization characterized by the supranational spatial integration of economies and societies. Globalization has intensified flows of goods, finance, people, and political cultural interactions all across our planet.

Understanding the nature of, and linkages between, globalization and inequality is crucial because disparities abound in access to needs such as shelter, land, food and clean water, sustainable livelihoods, technology, and information. Inequalities in all of these realms pose challenges to human security and environmental sustainability.

Fig 42. Burkina Faso’s troubles with Monsanto’s GM cotton Source: businesslive

Globalization, global cities and the Rise of New Inequalities

financial crisis Construction workers in Beijing, Beijing, China, 2016 It is widely believed that globalization is functioning properly. The adverse effects pointed out by activists - workers in sweatshops, hungry farmers, are gradually being overshadowed by China’s GDP growth and dizzying urban construction.

Just as the financial crisis is coming, the consensus on globalization has begun to crack; now, there is no longer any consensus. An economist who was once an active advocate of globalization has now become his most famous critic. Past supporters, at least some of them, have acknowledged that globalization has caused inequality and unemployment, as well as downward pressure on wages.

The whispers and criticisms that economists used to raise only in private have finally begun to become public. Compensation for those who have lost interest in the wave of globalization must be compensated through retraining and better national welfare.

Just as the financial crisis is coming, the consensus on globalization has begun to crack; now, there is no longer any consensus. An economist who was once an active advocate of globalization has now become his most famous critic. Past supporters, at least some of them, have acknowledged that globalization has caused inequality and unemployment, as well as downward pressure on wages.

The whispers and criticisms that economists used to raise only in private have finally begun to become public.

Fig 43. Construction workers in Beijing.

Image source: The Guardian anti-globalization wave swept the world @news.sina.com.cn

Globalization, global cities and the Rise of New Inequalities

inequalities Mumbai, India, 2018 Context: Mumbai is a city of imbalance. With an estimated wealth of $950 billion, the city is the 12th richest in the world, ranking ahead of major urban centers like Paris and Toronto. At the same time, more than half of the city’s population lives in slums, or areas of extreme poverty that often lack access to clean water, electricity, and public transportation. With an estimated 6.5 million people residing in these conditions, Mumbai has the largest slum population of any city in the world.

Mumbai is built on a slender, impossibly crowded peninsula surrounded on three sides by water. It contains the heart of India’s most powerful industries, and some of its poorest slums - it’s an urban jungle, a vertical aerie for the superrich, and a fragile marine ecosystem. Billion-dollar houses in the form of skyscrapers exist next to vast slums covered in blue tarps against the monsoon rains.

The photo shows that the area surrounding the Bandra Kurla complex is a mixture of extreme wealth and extreme poverty, including the consulate generals of several countries, corporate headquarters, and the National Stock Exchange.

Fig 44. Mumbai rich and poor Photo : Johnny Miller

Globalization, global cities and the Rise of New Inequalities

globalization results, local level, Baku, Azerbaidjan, 2015 Context: It is a photo of Baku, capital of Azerbaidjan, in Central Asia. The urban landscape has been transformed by the impact of increased wealth. After the collapse of the Soviet Bloc in the early 1990s, Azerbaidjan started to profit from the international market for oil. The country’s infrastructure started to be improved. However, poor housing still exists (note the slum-like dwellings) and not everyone has equal access to the city’s amenities. This photo illustrates the fact that globalization results, at a local level, in increased wealth only for a privileged few.

Inequalities caused by globalization : the forgotten countries. Not all countries have so far benefitted equally from increased global GDP; some have been “forgotten” (left trailing) by globalization. The world is still divided because some countries have greater advantages than others: they have a fairer socioeconomic system, are more stable, are wealthier, are good places for foreign investors, are more attractive to tourists, have greater resources, are more powerful, and use protectionist methods to maintain their advantages on world markets.

Wealthy and powerful regions become more powerful and wealthier thanks to a globalized economy because they exploit their advantages mostly for themselves. The poorer regions find it difficult to compete on a world scale. The NorthSouth divide will not be closed easily or soon.

Fig 45. Baku, 2015 Photo by Kevin Quigley

Globalization, global cities and the Rise of New Inequalities

income inequality 3rd Street Blackout movie, Negin Farsad , USA, 2016 This is the Negin Farsad latest movie, 3rd Street Blackout, deals with income inequality. It’s a comedy set in the blackout that resulted form Hurricane Sandy- a time when people had to put down their screens and actually interact with their neighbors. East Third Street in New York City is one of those peculiar blocks, projects on one side and million-dollar co-ops on the other. It’s a really safe mixedincome block, but it doesn’t mean the neighbors actually know each other.

Basically, it’s a social-atomizationinequality cluster bomb on the same block.It is the miniature of new global inequalities.

The eastern part of New York City’s third street is one of the city’s extraordinary blocks, and on the one hand it houses low-cost housing for vulnerable strata, and on the other hand, they have partnered with one million dollars. It is a really safe block with different incomes of its inhabitants, but that does not mean neighbors really know each other. Basically, this is a cluster bomb caused by the deep penetration of social inequality within a block! How can we bridge the gap, when faced with even one street with such.

Fig 46. Poster of the movie “3rd street: Negin Farsad , comedian / writer / filmmaker, colleague Ted, USA

Globalization, global cities and the Rise of New Inequalities

Fig 47. Foxconn factory in Shenzhen, China.

Source: t.cj.sina.com.cn

Globalization, global cities and the Rise of New Inequalities

global citiesise, inequalities Foxconn factory in Shenzhen, China, 2018 Context : Cook visit the Foxconn factory in Shenzhen, China, which has about 0.5 million workers mainly produced products for Apple, Blackberry, and so on.

Apple’s business is very much, of which Apple’s mobile phone is Apple’s top priority. Although Huawei’s sales exceeded Apple’s mobile phone this year, the annual sales of Apple’s mobile phone is very impressive, and Apple will not give up. Apple’s mobile phone, on the contrary, Apple may increase the output of Apple’s mobile phone. The annual output of Apple’s mobile phone is so large, it needs a foundry, and Foxconn is Apple’s largest foundry, and earning a lot of profits for Foxconn. So many netizens want to know how the treatment of Foxconn employees is, and what is the monthly salary?

An investigation says in the profit of iphones’ distribution, Chinese workers just get 2% from the total profit. The Foxconn factory in Shenzhen has 0.5 million workers whose work are very mechanical and repeated and frequently work overtime. The low work condition result in several suicides. But due to the decrease of Iphone XR, Foxconn decided to cut down the staff a bit, some of them may lose the job even it is so tough. And Apple is still one of the maximum profit company in the world. This is a typical case of Globalization and cause a serve inequalities.

X_Slums, chances, inequalities, uneven spaces and conditions Space & Society

Slums, chances, inequalities, uneven spaces and conditions

slums, uneven spaces and conditions Cemetery slums, Manila, Philippines, 2018 Context: Graveyard living- inside the ‘cemetery slums’ of Manila. In the poorly serviced capital of the Philippines, the poorest citizens have taken to living where no one else will – alongside the dead The work is a response to the migrant history of the East End and the City, along Manila is one of the world’s most densely populated cities, as migrants from the countryside have poured in seeking better opportunities. On arrival, the majority find little work and nowhere to live except self-built communities. Some of these slums have developed inside public cemeteries. People sleep in haphazard shanties built on top of graves, or inside mausoleums. It’s free, but there are no basic services such as sanitation, electricity and clean water, let alone adequate shelter.

Some of the community are caretakers, paid by relatives of the dead to maintain the graves; the fee can be as little as 600 pesos (£9) a year. Other residents own makeshift stores or work as masons, carving headstones for the 80-100 funerals that take place daily.

It is a difficult life, made more so by frequent violent anti-drug raids by the Philippine National Police (PNP); grislier still, some of the graves hold the corpses of the victims of the PNP’s extra-judicial killings. President Rodrigo Duterte’s “war on drugs” has killed more than 12,000 people since June 2016, and many of the raids take place in cemeteries.

Despite Medina’s claims, living conditions here are far below acceptable standards. In 1996, the residents of Manila North Cemetery appealed to the mayor for a school, washroom facilities and a church. Nothing has happened, so they now run their own classes for the local children. And while they wait – for housing, for jobs, for justice – they continue to work as masons, caretakers or makers of coffins, headstones and mausoleums.

Fig 48. ‘The government say they want us gone.’

Photo: Lynzy Billing

Slums, chances, inequalities, uneven spaces and conditions

upgrading slums SAAL Bouca Housing, Porto, Designed by Alvaro Siza, 2014 This development of 128 dwellings, on land adjoining Boavista, to the west of Porto’s city centre, is one of two commissions that Siza secured from SAAL, the government-funded programme for rehousing slum- dwellers implemented after the Democratic Revolution of 1974. Built in two phases – 1977–79 and 2004– 07 – its design is adapted from an earlier 1972–73 scheme providing accommodation for the law clerks of the future ‘justice city’ of Porto.

When faced the social problems, as an architect what we can do it is very limited. We can not make a fundamental change to the people who lived in the slums, what we can do is try our best to cater to their requests and make a space that make them live better. But upgrading the slums is the goal as Alvaro Siza did it in this country.

Fig 49. SAAL Bouca Housing, Porto Source: openhouseporto.com

Slums, chances, inequalities, uneven spaces and conditions

slums Mumbai the uneven spaces, slums and surrounding urbanspace, 2018 Context: Dharavi Slum is one of the most famous slums in the world. The adjacent Mahim Nature Park was developed as a relief valve, an affordable way to escape the extreme urbanism which characterizes most Indian cities. Even the new airport is stunted, India’s second busiest, with the east section unfinished and a second runway impossible to build because of the slums. Mumbai is a model of the city in the 21st century. How people can change the poverty and inequlities situation inside the desperate slum. The Nobel Peace prize winner Muhammad Yunus has found a bank which give small amount loans help people in slum to improve. This is a kind of chances.

Dharavi gives lie to the traditional conception of Mumbai’s slums as places of squalor and poverty. This ‘city within a city’ is a model of economic efficiency and productivity, a place where most things appear to be broken but everything seems to be working rather nicely.

One third of the population of Dharavi have no access to clean drinking water at all. There is a serious sanitation problem in Dharavi, with poor drainage systems causing the spread of diseases and serious public health problems. This is only exacerbated by the annual monsoons, with the flooding leading to increased spreading of contagious diseases. In Dharavi there are 4000 cases of disease reported every day. Recent figures suggest that there is only one toilet for every 1440 people. It is clear that the Indian government, for various reasons, has failed to address the serious health problems that present themselves in Dharavi, and in this sense the slum stands as a prominent and ugly example of the huge social problems faced by an India in the process of rapid economic development and population growth. It is estimated that up to 300 families arrive every hour in Mumbai alone.

Fig 50. Drahavi Slums, Mumbai, India, 2018 Photo by Charles Davis

Slums, chances, inequalities, uneven spaces and conditions

slums, community, security Going to school in the slum, B Dharavi, Mumbai, 2017 Some people assume that slums have no amenities like schools, medical care, or restaurants. However, these things are found in many slums just like in any city. Contrary to the mainstream image of slums, kids do go to school in Dharavi.

All together, a kid’s life in Dharavi is perhaps not so very different from the lives of other kids. They dress up in the morning to go to school, they are told to behave in the classroom (which sometimes they don’t) and simply have too much energy to be able to keep quiet.

Beside the negative points in slums, we can see the good things of community.

In Dharavi, children go to school and get back home by themselves that is not because their parent can not pick up them, but they believe in their neighbor, their community where people keep eye on each other. Living in a strong connection community, people have a chance to communicate, talking, and cooperate to life together.

Fig 51. Going to school in the slum Source: theperfectslum.blogspot.com

Slums, chances, inequalities, uneven spaces and conditions

slums, community, security Rocinha directly adjacent to the luxury district of São Conrado, Brazil, 2018 There are two cities within one..(one) part has all the benefits of urban living, and the other part, the slums and squatter settlements, where the poor often live under worse conditions than their rural relatives.” Anna Tibaijuka The United Nations Defines slums as poor, overcrowded communities lacking adequate access to basic necessities like drinking water and sanitation, public services, basic infrastructure and quality housing. Slums exist outside the official city grid, built without any proper planning and are in a constant state expansion and transformation. Urban slums are the world’s fastest growing human habitat.

Slums are increasingly being viewed as integral places to a city as the slum population provides cheap work force, which actually helps develop and improve the city’s economy. Urban planning initiatives consider ways of upgrading and improving the slums rather than trying to get rid of them completely as this population will play a considerable part in the growth and future of the city. Thus, in a way slums are not only inevitable, they measure the success of a city. The formation of slums is an integral part in the growth and development of a city.

In fact, a city with no slums will not have a strong work force to help it grow and hence its development may remain stagnant.

Fig 52. Rocinha directly adjacent to the luxury district of São Conrado, Brazil Photo: Alicia Nijdam @ Flickr

Slums, chances, inequalities, uneven spaces and conditions

slums, communities Cape Town slum, Khayelitsha, Western Cape, South Africa, 2016 Cape Town’s slum residents battle for sanitation, where residents are “dying for a pee“. Using a toilet in informal settlements is one of the most dangerous activities for residents. Many have to share inadequate temporary toilets like porta potties or chemical toilets and have to walk a long way without light. Others have no access at all and have to use fields or bushes. Children cannot go alone but finding a parent or neighbor is not always possible for them. As shown in the photo, the access to sanitation is still limited: this row of 10 toilets (centre, by grass) serves hundreds.

Overcrowding has been another common problem in this ever-growing slum.

Khayelitsha has a high population density and a low amount of resources to support the growing population. ... Though Khayelitsha’s hardships are very much prevalent, certain NGOs are doing what they can to alleviate various hardships. Though the apartheid that bore Khayelitsha ended over 20 years ago, the damage has yet to depart. Cape Town was conceived for the sole purpose to house blacks in the white dominant country of South Africa, with protectant buffer zones of scrubland and valleys to separate Cape Town from the rest of the country. This made Cape Town one of the most populated cities in South Africa and Khayelitsha one of the most populated slums.

Though Khayelitsha was originally an apartheid dumping ground, as part of the “Group Areas Act” it is now one of the largest and fastest growing slums in South Africa. Khayelitsha is home to around 2.4 million individuals, 50 percent of which are under the age of 19. Over the past ten years, the population has increased from 400,000 to 2.4 million. The unemployment rate for individuals living in Khayelitsha is 73 percent with 70 percent of its individuals living in shacks.

The severe poverty combined with a lack of community infrastructure has led the community to vast crime rates, gangs, violence and drug use, thus placing Khayelitsha as the murder capital of South Africa. Local police say they deal with an average of four murders every weekend.

Fig 53. Khayelitsha slum, CAPE TOWN, 2016 Source: thisisplace.org

Slums, chances, inequalities, uneven spaces and conditions

slums, communities, inequalities ”Berlin Wall”, Lima, Peru, 2015 A four-year-old wall to divide the two rich-poor areas in the Peruvian capital is the clearest evidence of the growing disparity between the rich and the poor.

In Peru’s capital, Lima, there is a wall higher than 3m, more than 10km long with barbed rows above to separate the two worlds, one of the rich, one of the poor.

Built in 2011 in the outskirts of the capital, Lima, this wall also has other names such as Peru’s “Berlin Wall” or “Wall of Shame” because it separates rich urban areas. Las Casuarinas with Vista Hermosa slums. This wall was created with the purpose of urban planning and security for the wealthy residents but also added a picture of rich-poor discrimination in the capital, Lima. In contrast to torn slums, where people do not have access to minimal services such as electricity and clean water, not far away are luxury villas worth millions of dollars and fresh landscapes. Green, rich. Media and many social organizations have called for the removal of this wall but so far has not worked.

Recently, these organizations continue to implement initiatives to support the poor people living by drawing pictures on this “ugly” wall. According to Oxfam, Latin America and the Caribbean region are the two places with the highest wealth gap in the world. The existence of this rich and poor dividing wall is not only evidence for the above conclusion but also the cut of the poorest and most vulnerable communities in society.

Fig 54. “Berlin Wall” 10km of rich-poor separation in Peru, 2015 Source: Dong Feng @ Daily Mail

XI_Gentrification issues between North and South, East and West Space & Society

Gentrification issues between North and South, East and West

gentrification of atlanta Atlanta, US, 2018 Atlanta was the first US city to build public housing – and the first to knock it all down. Now, with rampant property speculation in black working-class areas, longtime residents are being priced out – and advocates say the racial dynamics are unsettling. It is also a special case in the history of housing in the US. It was the first city to develop public housing in 1936 and the first, early this century, to close it down completely, leaving all its housing subject to the invisible hand of market forces.

An analysis by Governing magazine ranked Atlanta fifth among US cities experiencing the most gentrification, with more than 46% of its census tracts currently gentrifying. According to the city, median rents are up 28% since 2000, compared with just 9% nationwide over the same timespan. A 2018 report by HotPads found rent in the city was rising three times faster than the national median. It also ranks third nationwide for evictions, with over 400 cases being processed a month.

Atlanta, perhaps now ironically, was the first city in the US to complete construction on a public housing project, with Techwood Homes replacing a stretch of blighted slums in the center in 1936. At a dedication in November that year, the president, Franklin D Roosevelt, hailed the “bright, cheerful” buildings as a “tribute to useful work under government supervision”. The white-only development was followed shortly by University Homes, a segregated offering for black people further downtown.

Fig 55. The BeltLine is seen by some as a driver of gentrification Photo : Ben Rollins

Gentrification issues between North and South, East and West

gentrification in the north The debate of gentrification in Shenzhen, China, 2016 Context: In the past 20 years, Shenzhen has become one of the biggest cities in the world from a small fishing village. As the city urban restructuring going, some old districts face the destiny of demolished and renewed, where the land price is very high now. But such old areas are now offer home to less rich people and young people who come to Shenzhen and want to settle down. It is quite common in China the government lead the gentrification process by demolishing the place and sold the land to real estate company, then thousands of people lose their homes and forced to live further from the city core. Some experts and designers want to keep them and make improvement, which also result in an increase of rent. Maybe the best way is just leave it untreated.

Developing countries have witnessed unprecedentedly rapid urbanization process, whereas we are worried to see that most of the urbanization happened in the form of urban sprawl. It is the situation in most fast growing cities that on the one hand, urban land is expanding into rural areas without control; on the other hand, many distressed inner urban sites are left unused. During the new stage of urbanization, massive urban expansion is no longer encouraged, replaced by more sustainable and intensive utilization of urban land. Nowadays large scales of urban redevelopment have been taking place in China. Among which the redevelopment of urban villages has received substantial attention.

Urban village is a unique phenomenon due to China’s dual land system and residence registration system. Within urban areas, urban villages have unique social functions by providing low-rent housing for large amounts of low-income rural migrants. Under the risk of losing low-rent houses, the redeveloping activity will affect these migrants significantly. Right now in China, Shenzhen has become a leader among all the cities in the field of urban renewal, of which an important part is the renewal of urban villages. Owing to rapid urbanization on one hand and limited land resources on the other, Shenzhen has encountered unprecedented development bottleneck.

Fig 56. Shenzhen, China Source: Shenzhen Architecture Biennale, China.

Gentrification issues between North and South, East and West

gentrification in berlin Berlin, Germany, 2016 “Here gentrification happens very quickly. Every month some ‘nice’ restaurant or shop opens. But poor people have to leave, social housing is sold off, and rich people and tourists move in. There was a squatting action, a demonstration and protests against the rebranding of the neighbourhood. The posters and banners on houses everywhere. But the city council is just selling off social housing. Waiting time for a house in this neighbourhood used to be eight years, now it is 18 years. The biggest ruling party has even worse plans; they want to give the social houses only to working people, saying jobless people should leave the city.

“While gentrification in Berlin is harder to recognise than in New York or London due to the low base from which rent prices started at, the percentage increases are extreme. The city has taken some steps to keep prices down (for instance by capping rent increases) but this has also ignited the popularity of Airbnb and similar sites, where renters can take advantage of these laws by paying low rents themselves, but making huge profits through short-term rentals. This then takes a number of apartments off the market, increasing rent prices and shortages.

Fig 57. These #boycottairbnb posters in Berlin complain that the service is contributing to gentrification.

Photo: Agata Lisiak

Gentrification issues between North and South, East and West

gentrification in america, racial identity America, 2017 Gentrification is one of the most high-profile issues in America’s cities. It sits at the intersection of economic theory, culture, class, and racial identity. It’s been protested, lampooned, and protested some more. Gentrification is also a historical irony; the opposite of the white flight of the mid-twentieth century. Formerly working class and black neighborhoods in America’s largest cities are changing, and some people are not exactly enthused.

To put it simply, gentrification is the process of a poor or working class neighborhood becoming middle or upper class. This process allegedly results in rising rental prices due to increased demand. According to critics, previous residents are forced to leave, and new businesses moving into the area to serve the new consumer base.

In addition to economics, gentrification has a way of reviving racial tensions.

It generally involves young, educated, middle-class white people moving into neighborhoods whose residents are mostly black and working class. This influx of people and capital changes neighborhoods.Many are comparing gentrification to colonialism. It is alleged that gentrification is destroying these black neighborhoods and their unique cultures along with it. Rhetoric aside, this argument basically states that the white people don’t belong in their neighborhood because they believe and look different. They’re ruining the neighborhood.

Fig 58. People protest on American streets, 2017 Source: thelibertarianrepublic.com

Gentrification issues between North and South, East and West

gentrification in china 798 art center, Beijing, China, 2009 The construction of the 98 factory was assisted by the former Soviet Union, designed by the Democratic Republic of Germany, and the factory is a Bauhaus-style building. The factory was built in 1951. At the beginning of the founding of the country, this factory was used to produce military electronic equipment. It was once the pride of the Republic.

From 2003, the activity “renovation of factory� come to people, and many artists create their studios in 798 Park. In 2006, the art market rose in 2008. Not only in the 798 Park, the prices of Chinese contemporary art were sold at a high price, and there were many sales opportunities. Many artists relying on 798 made a fortune, so the corresponding price in 798 also rose. , fried to a square meter 7-8 yuan a day, or even 10 yuan. Nowadays we are experiencing an increased state intervention in gentrification, part of a broader shift in the political economy of the gentrification politics and polarized urban policies.

Fig 59. 798 art center, Beijing, China, 2009 Source: This work has been released into the public domain by its author, Charlie Fong.

Gentrification issues between North and South, East and West

anti-gentrification Anti-Gentrification Signs, Brightwood, DC, 2015 Local DC residents attempt to raise awareness for what they perceive to be a depletion of affordable housing stock for the black community, a side effect of gentrification. The question may be posed: what’s the difference between gentrification and cultural diversification?

Milfred Ellis views Brightwood as a base for middle class African Americans. Ellis has put signs in his yards opposing the rapid changes. In Ellis’s Northwest neighborhood, the black population has similarly declined, from 85 percent in 1990 to about 67 percent in 2010. This decline comes as the Hispanic population has jumped throughout the city and slightly more white residents have moved into Brightwood and other predominately black neighborhoods.

About 70 percent of residents in that district owned their homes in 2012 — a rate that far exceeds the city’s average — and many, like Ellis and his neighbors, have lived there for decades. As residents leave or age out of their homes, Ellis says they’re not being replaced by other black families.

Although gentrification is, by definition, wealthier residents displacing longtime poorer residents in neighborhoods, for Ellis, it’s about black residents not losing their foothold in the city. In the 1800s and 1900s, there was a sizeable black population in Georgetown, he noted, before it was transformed into the ritzy neighborhood it’s known as today.

Fig 60. Brightwood, DC, 2015 Source: apps.cndls.georgetown.edu

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