topos 113 | Urban Mutations

TOPICS

Urban spaces are subject to constant change. It's the nature of the beast. The processes of urbanisation – in the western world and especially in emerging and developing countries – change both the way we live in urban space and the urban space itself. Cities mutate into mega-urban spaces – borders, boundaries, neighbourhoods and spaces begin to blur. By 2050 two-thirds of the world's population will live in cities. The consequences of population growth are already evident: In many cities all over the world housing, green open space and resources have become rare commodities. Climate change is also leading to transformation processes: This comes with a loss of biodiversity and an increase in extreme weather events. topos 113 takes an in-depth look at urban mutations, at transformation processes and the changing of urban spaces, and examines the challenges and opportunities inherent to them.

COLLAGES OF ARCHITECTURE
Focusing on the complexity of city life by use of collages: Klaus Theo Brenner’s new book City Life Collage

UNMUTE THE SOUND OF MUTATION
Eric Firley on planning scenarios that maintain relevance in the future: How Miami tackles climate change

A BREATH OF FRESH AIR
The impact of air pollution on city dwellers’ health: The project Air/Aria/Aire and the case of Barcelona

“THE PRODUCTION OF ... EQUITABLE ANDINCLUSIVE ENVIRONMENTS”
Bianca Maria Rinaldi on the relevance of public green spaces in growing and socially fragmented cities

SHAPING THE GLOBAL SOUTH
Deden Rukmana on the need for including informal spaces in planning scenarios in the Global South

URBAN GROWTH AND URBAN POVERTY
The decades-long fight of the city of Buenos Aires against urban poverty and inequality

LEVERAGES TO LIVEABILITY
Urban activist Olamide Udoma-Ejorh on the challenges of urban development in the megacity of Lagos

FACTS & FIGURES

MUTATION THROUGH REGENERATION
The case of Semarang, Java: examining local improvement attempts as reactions to global trends of urban regeneration

UNEARTHING WATER
Making water more perceptible: Mexico City and the need for architecture that presents water in a new context

THE DIALECTIC OF TRANSFORMATION AND PERMANENCE
On China’s rapid growth and the urban planning strategy of modernizing its traditions

INSULAR STRUCTURES
The megalopolis of Seoul: Analyzing urban mutations based on the city’s typological subunits

POSTMODERN PYROSCAPES
On the need for a future-proof fire culture in the wildfire-shaken state of California

“IT TAKES COURAGE TO USE A LANDSCAPE AS IT IS”
In conversation with Tilman Latz on the challenges of the transformation of post-industrial landscapes

RELOCATING A CITY
About moving the arctic city of Kiruna, redefining values and finding solutions for a world of constant change

CONTAINERIZATION
Charlie Clemoes on the shipping container as a driver of urban change

CONTRIBUTORS