[csaa-forum] The Right to the City Symposium

[Melissa Gregg]

CALL FOR PAPERS/PRESENTATIONS/PANELS

SYMPOSIUM: THE RIGHT TO THE CITY

Faculty of Architecture Design and Planning,
University of Sydney
Saturday April 9th, 2011

"The Right to The City" is an exhibition and publishing project
cosponsored by Tin Sheds Gallery and _Architectural Theory Review_. We
invite the submission of abstracts proposing papers, panels and
creative presentations for a one-day symposium, investigating
connections between art, architecture, planning and activism.

"The Right to the City" takes as its starting point David Harvey's
polemical article, of the same name, that redefined urban existence as
a contested part of modern democracy: "The freedom to make and remake
our cities and ourselves is, I want to argue, one of the most precious
yet most neglected of our human rights."
[available at http://newleftreview.org/?view=2740 .]
Given the perilous environmental predicament we find ourselves in, coupled
with 
our intensifying urbanisation, many artists, activists, planners and
architects are seeking ways to "remake" the city in more socially
connected and sustainable ways. Their activities are often concerned
with negotiating the increasing fragmentation and complexity of the
contemporary city; developing critical spatial practices that engage in
micro-political actions.

These activities are frequently undertaken in opposition to
institutionalised, technocratic urbanisms; a range of ideas, practices
and processes has emerged that focuses instead on pluralistic,
decentralized, and cooperative social ecologies. As forms of art
practice, architecture, planning or activism,  they are "minor"
urbanisms, concerned with the everyday, with temporal and interim uses;
with contingent tactics that exploit voids, niches and loopholes in the
socio-spatial fabric of cities. As catalysts for change, the tactics of
"minor," "everyday" or "DIY" urbanism are often defined in opposition
to the commodification and corporatisation of urban space. Instead,
they emphasise the creation of community, however temporary, and the
framing of public situations producing intersubjective encounters
without profit as their central motivation. "The Right to the City"
will bring together an ambitious collection of artistic and written
works that explore such urban interventions ­ opening up a space in
which possibilities for reimagining life in the city can be discussed.

With this context in mind, we invite submissions for panels,
presentations, papers, actions and activities. We are interested in
proposals that will help us develop a one-day "think tank" on Saturday,
April 9th, 2011, exploring these practices of everyday urbanism, the
ideas driving them, their outcomes, implications, possibilities, but
also their limits, tensions and complexities. This event, in
conjunction with the exhibition "The Right to the City," aims to feed
off the university environment and resources while simultaneously
eroding boundaries that divide the institution from the broader community.

We encourage the submission of creative proposals for panel
discussions, dialogues and presentations, as well as more scholarly
papers. These proposals should be up to 500 words and submitted in Word
or RTF to contactrighttothecity at gmail.com. Selected material will be
invited to contribute to the exhibition catalogue, _Architectural
Theory Review_ special issue (please see the separate call for papers
on the website), and a book planned for 2012.

Deadline for abstracts (up to 500 words): February 10,  2011.

For enquiries about the project contact: contactrighttothecity at gmail.com
and see the website at http://www.therighttothecity.com   .


 
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