Illusions, delusions, confusions?
Navigating the Future of Contemporary Cities
Aleksandra Stupar
https://doi.org/10.60152/6nu3859t
Abstract: Contemporary cities, as the ever-changing nodes of dynamic global networks, transform their character, performances and aesthetic in order to face increasing challenges and to respond to the upcoming ecological, technological and social imperatives. Although generating a number of problems, they also provide various solutions which should preferably lead toward sustainable and resilient development. This process is continuously debated and upgraded, but it does not always create a wishful environment of higher efficiency, equity and wellbeing for all inhabitants. Instead, many cities have to deal with a combustible concoction of increased insecurity, fears, threats and overall anxiety, which has a severe destabilising effect on the fragile systems of needs, values and priorities. However, urban space has always had a unique role in every phase of socio-technical change, providing an immersive stage for the various levels and tools of action and interpretation. Materialised through architecture, urban planning and design, their impact reflects in new spatial concepts, hosting directly or indirectly every wave of technological (r)evolution, as well as its benefits and repercussions for both the society and the environment. Considering the complexity of ongoing global processes, which accelerate the pace of urban changes, the paper focuses on the relationship between the detected problems and the innovative responses implemented in urban space. The emerging typologies and their anticipated/achieved impacts will be dicusessed, targeting the issues of poverty, crime, migration, ecological and climate (un)awareness, as well as the needs of sensitive groups (determined by age, gender, ethnicity etc.). These small and large scale transformations and modifications, often with questionable and colliding effects, are frequently supported by ‘green’ rhetoric, although their actual sustainability and resilience might be overshadowed by influential political and financial drivers. Therefore, the content of numerous lists ranking the competitive advantages of each city displays both the contemporary urban priorities and the recent (im)balance of power, testifying about the paradigm shifts which should facilitate our efforts in mitigating the consequences of climate extremes, natural disasters or socio-economic turbulences.
Keywords: contemporary city, transformation, innovativeness, typology, urban space
How to cite this Paper (Harvard referencing style):
Stupar, A. (2024) ‘Illusions, delusions, confusions? Navigating the Future of Contemporary Cities’, in R. Bogdanović (ed.) On Architecture — Shaping the City through Architecture, Proceedings. Belgrade, Serbia: STRAND, pp. 11–17.
See publication On Architecture (2024) Conference Proceedings