Call for papers for the 21st Inura-Conference “Urban Growth: Legality Limits”
Presentations should not exceed 20 minutes. Abstract should be submitted until October 4th, 2011 to berntm@irs-net.de . Abstracts should be in English, while presentations can also be made in Spanish. Papers are also welcome but should not exceed 10.000 characters.
From Revolution to Evolution. Urban insurgencies and the emerging political public space. (Chair: Costanza La Mantia):
The recent uprisings spread around the Arab world as well in Europe during the last months, are maybe quite different in terms of contexts and demands, but have also similar shades in manifesting a globally diffused social discontent. Also the different processes of re-appropriation of the public space, from Tahrir to Puerta del Sol, passing through Syntagma and other hundreds public squares around the world, have shown the claim for a real public space rather then just a symbolic one, a space dense of new political meanings.
The more or less temporary occupation of the ground of many squares, and the relative transformation of the urban space, has made many citizens rediscover the need, the strength and the creative power of social interaction, pushing them to self-organize and empower. Along with these physical phenomena also the "virtual" public space has been a protagonist of these urban insurgencies around the world. From face book to twitter, social media and blogs have been channels for communication, alternative information, solidarity manifestations, as well as tools for the fights on the urban ground, mapping interactively the threats for the protesters and allowing to show in real time what was happening on the field to the people at their home.
We ask for contributions focusing on reflections and stories related with those uprisings or other recent "urban insurgency" episodes. We seek for samples about self-empowerment, self-organization, rediscovering of the value of the commons, creative occupation and transformation of the public space and related lessons to be learnt from the squares. We ask as well to enquire those events and the related phenomena about their possible political significance in the light of a global fight for a better society.
Urban Legality Limits & Conflict
(Chair: Marvi Maggio)
Urbanization – for example through peripheral sprawl, regeneration and/or gentrification of central districts – usually goes together with new land use regulations and political programmes as well as changes in the field of involved actors, social movements and institutions. These changes frame our understanding of the often conflictive processes of negotiating a generally desirable “Right to the City”, and – not exclusively – in Mexico concern classifications of formal and legal procedures.
One of the aims of the conference and the excursions to urban boroughs in Mexico-City is to question the very categorization of those processes inherent to urbanization: How are privatization and commodification of land, public space and real estate embedded into such institutional and juridical changes? Who or: whose practices are excluded and marginalized? Who defines practices as being “informal”/”illegal”? To what extent linkages of “informal” practices to poverty and/or criminality remain persistent in urban planning and (multilateral institution’s) development discourses?
Social Housing Today
(Chair: Anke Schwarz)
As questions of rent regulation, public and/or affordable housing have (re)emerged to the political agenda in various cities worldwide, we will have a panel on social housing today. The case of Mexico City historically serves as an important example in terms of social housing. Amongst others, we will discuss recent Mexican housing policies through a proposal made by CONAVI (Mexican National Commission of Housing) to help households to pay their rents. There will be a presentation on the housing rent sector in Mexico and examples of housing cooperatives from other countries and their possible lessons to the Mexican case. Presentations on all issues related to social housing, housing policies, land and housing markets and movements for housing rights are welcome to form part of this panel.
Open Call
(Chair: Matthias Bernt)
This panel is open to all contributions which don’t fit into any of the other panels. We welcome papers on theoretical reflections as well as practical experiences, artwork, provocations or anything else which fits into the INURA-Principles.
