The conference was located in the beautiful Estacao Julio Prestes in downtown Sao Paulo and was a big deal for a whole bunch of local politicians. All these mayors and officials are great speakers but their statements and promises are often dubious. However, there was also a great representation of well known local and international urbanists, architects, activists and policy makers.
Some of the major themes that were discussed were...
Fragmented urban governance - ie. the boundaries of a city don´t correspond with the extent of the built up area. This leads to poor coordination between city government and other regions regarding important issues like public transport, roads, land use planning, water infrastructure and environmental regulations.
Global economic crisis - what will it mean for cities? Probably further increase in informal sectors but also potential opportunities for urban reform.
Segregation - Sao Paulo has evolved into something much more complex than the wealthy centre vs poor periphery duality. Major business centres moved out of the decaying downtown and informal settlements have continued to grow.
Small-scale interventions - Many interesting projects were presented by architects and designers that are improving life in cities such as Medellin (Colombia), Santiago de Chile, Rio de Janeiro and Mumbai.
There is much more to write of course but to finish I must add that never have I been treated so well. Paid for in full by the Alfred Herrhausen Society, we were given countless lunches, dinners, drinks and social events. It was all a bit surreal for me.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment