(Post) COVID City: Reports from the Future

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, people living in metropolitan areas have been among the worst hit and vulnerable: unprepared healthcare networks, overwhelmed governments, collapsing economies, the exploitation of so-called “frontline workers” and unfit urban infrastructure.

This mini-series of podcasts are speculations how our cities will be lastingly shaped by the current pandemic outbreak. In reports from the future issues such as mutual aid and solidarity, inequality and migration, public space, mobility, urban tourism, labour, urban planning and environmental changes are addressed. The podcasts are a result of a block seminar with Urban Management Master Students from Technical University Berlin taught by Christian Haid and Lukas Staudinger from POLIGONAL Office for Urban Communication Berlin.

https://soundcloud.com/user-822578217/sets/post-covid-city-reports-from-the-future

Former UM students offered an online alumni workshop on the topic: ‘Complexity of Little and Big Things: Urban Management in Pandemic Crisis’.

Due to COVID 19 Pandemia the summer semester 2020 and the winter semester 2020/21 at the Urban Management Masters Course are carried out in an online format.

The 2018/19 Urban Management class carried out a case study project in Kosovo. In collaboration with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and the Municipalities of Pristina and Fushe Kosova, the students work focuses on real-life waste management issues, especially regarding Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW). The report assesses the current situation before developing an adequate alternative propose on how to deal with CDW which is based on several findings through research, interviews and discussions. It then gives incentives based on the gained knowledge and relates them to the legal framework of Kosovarian law.

Report Kosovo

Prof. Donald K. Carter (Carnegie Mellon University) will give an ‘Urban talk’-lecture on: ‚The Pittsburgh Story And Remaking Post-Industrial Cities. Oct. 31^st, 6 pm. Architecture building, Halle 4.

On July 11th, the UM course organises a public "cinema and food-event" at ZK/U (Zentrum für Kunst und Urbanistik, Berlin), by curating and showing documentaries on the topic ‘Traveling Waste’.

From May 19th to May 26th UM students carried out their study project about demolition and construction waste in cooperation with GIZ in Pristina, Kosovo.

Prof. Christoph Parnreiter (Universität Hamburg) will give an ‘Urban talk’-lecture on: ‚Cities, Infrastructures and uneven development’. Jan. 24^th, 6 pm. Architecture building, room A053.

Prof. Mfaniseni (Fana) Sihlongonyane will give the first ‘Urban talk’-lecture of the winter semester, on: ‚The Rhetoric and Challenges of the New Urban Agenda in African Cities’. Oct. 23^rd, 6 pm. Architecture building.

The 14th Urban Management Program commenced in October 2018, with 27 students from the following countries: Indonesia, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Guatemala, Ukraine, Pakistan, Nepal, India, Myanmar, Colombia, Honduras, Peru, France, Ireland, Vietnam, USA, Jordan, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Israel, Turkey, Ecuador, Argentina, Iran.

From July 2nd to 4th, the students of the UM course went on an excursion to Bonn, to visit institutions working in the field of international/ development cooperation. The trip was supported by the German Academic Exchange Service.

The on-going research and art project, Chinafrika, traces cultural relations between China and Africa, portraying a global process that also fundamentally impacts the imagery of Europe.On July 5th, African,  Chinese and European artists, curators, theoreticians and activists were invited to look into ways accounting for current developments in the fields of artistic practice and visual cultures, everyday life, architecture and urbanism. The event was held at the Institute for Architecture and was hosted by author, curator and lecturer Jochen Becker, who is a co-founder of metroZones at the Center for Urban Affairs and the Initiative Urbane Kulturen.

A better and more critical understanding of the politics of governance challenges in a global context is required in order to enable the great urban transformation towards more sustainability. On June 7th, at the Floating University Berlin, four guests offered short inputs on the subject: Afia Afenah - Governing Transformations from Below? A study of Old Fadama, Accra; Jakub Galuszka - Urban Governance in an Exclusionary Sociopolitical context of Metro Manila; Christian Haid - Urban Governance, The State and De-mystifying Formality; Marjetica Potrč - Participation.

On May 31st, at the Floating University Berlin, the 3rd session of Urban Talks took place. Among the questions tackled were: What role do designers have to play in newly emerging green economies? and What kind of architectures can emerge from the consideration of circular economies? The event consisted of three short input lectures and a joint discussion, bringing together diverse perspectives on climate adaption.

On May 25th, at the Floating University Berlin, the 2nd session of Urban Talks sought to shed light on crucial factors enabling the development of a post-fossil climate-adaptive architecture. Three speakers provided short input lectures: Katherine Bell - Everyday-Infrastructure; Marco Schmidt - Urban Climates; Marcela López - tbc.

On May 17th, at the Floating University Berlin, Session 1 of the event-series 'Die Nachwachsende Stadt' which is part of the design studio 'Die große Transformation' will offered an overview of the topic of urban systems. Four guests gave short inputs: Saskia Hebert (Transformation Design, HBK Braunschweig); Ramana Gudipudi (PIK Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research); Maria Rosa Muñoz (Wuppertal Institute, climate questions) and Stefan Kreft (HNE, Eberswalde University of Sustainable Development).

From April 15th to 23rd UM students participated in a summer school on urban management (housing, public space etc) in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, South Africa. Project partner was the Wits University Johannesburg, School of Architecture and Planning.

This report, conducted by the 2016/17 Urban Management class in cooperation with the GIZ - Gesellschaft für Internationale  Zusammenarbeit, examines strategies of sustainable heritage conservation for the Albanian villages of Vuno and Qeparo.

On December 18th, at the Institute of Architecture, the 6th and final Urban Talk of 2017 was presented by Yaşar Adnan Adanalı,director of the Istanbul-based Center for Spatial Justice. The event was organized by the Urban Management Program and Habitat Unit. Mr. Adanali spoke about the Düzce Hope Homes, the first participatory mass-housing project in Turkey which also offers help to victims of natural disaster.

The 13th Urban Management Program commenced in October 2017, with 22 students from the following countries: Brazil, Chile, Colombia, India, Iran, Korea, Mexico, Peru, Spain, Syria, USA.

Former UM student Alokananda Nath's article titled ‘Urbanisation – Serious shortcomings of India’s ambitious Smart Cities program’ was selected for publication in the magazine ‘Development + Cooperation’. The article was based on her |UM Masters thesis:

https://www.dandc.eu/sites/default/files/pdf_files/2017-10-dc.pdf

On July 21st, the UM course organised a public "cinema and food-event" at ZK/U (Zentrum für Kunst und Urbanistik, Berlin), by curating and showing documentaries on ‘Urban flows’.

Urban Management students explored ways to apply the UN Sustainable Development Goals to their home cities by devising indicators and research methodologies in the City Profiles course. These indicators assessed urban issues such as: housing affordability, transportation emission rates and connectivity, inclusivity in the planning process, resilience to natural disasters, amount of green public space per capita, and waste management efficiency. This process allows for comparison and collaboration in improving sustainable development in cities worldwide.

Films on Youtube

On June 15^th, at the Institute of Architecture, the Urban Management Program in cooperation with Habitat Unit hosted the 2nd Urban Talk of 2017. The topic was Do-It-Yourself Urbanism: Emerging Practices with Bellastock from Paris as well as Refunc NL and ONOFF from Berlin.

From May 2^nd to May 12th, the students of the UM course carried out a study project on ‘Sustainable Models of Conservation and Revitalization for the Historic Villages of Vuno & Qeparo, in Himara’, Albania. Project partner was the ‘Integrated Sustainable Development of the Southern Coastal Region’ program, implemented by the ‘Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH’ (GIZ) Albania, funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.

On April 18^th, the Urban Management Program in cooperation with Habitat Unit hosted the 1st Urban Talk of 2017. Asef Bayat was invited to talk about Street Politics in the Arab Revolutions.

The 2015/16 Urban Management class carried out a case study project in Kosovo. In collaboration with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, the University of Pristina and the Municipality of Pristina the students worked on the assessment of a waste bank model in Dardania, Pristina. Eight years after its independence the country was confronted by a variety of challenges including the provision of such services as, solid waste management, the publication contained summaries of Kosovo’s development and the legal framework of its waste management sector and focused on the students' work concerning public budget implications, waste data collection, management systems and more.

Report

On February 13th, the Urban Management Program in cooperation with Habitat Unit hosted the 1st Urban Talk of 2016/17. Vincent Möller was invited to talk about Community Led Development and Design in Times of Climate Change.

Vincent Möller is an urban geographer actively working as a consultant on renewable energies and climate change in the South Asian context. Among the many organizations he assists is SPARC, established more than 30 years ago to support the urban poor in India in accessing basic urban services as well as their basic rights. His has previously worked in this area as a desk officer for energy policy and climate change at Misereor in Germany. He completed his studies in Trier, Utrecht and Berlin.