12: Urban resilience to environmental challenges
There are two terms that have come to define the 21st century: the ‘urban age’ and the ‘age of man’. The former reflects the fact that more than half of the world’s population live in cities. The latter indicates the cost of this urbanisation and the impact of human activities on the creation of a new geological epoch, now known as the Anthropocene. Many cities around the world are acknowledging this and are competing with one another to become not only the cleanest, greenest and healthiest city, but also the safest. In this context, resilience is a concept which is spreading fast.
We will discuss the assumptions inherent in the ideologies and rationalities of ‘resilience’, its inscribed meanings and values, social, political, moral and ethical implications. What pitfalls and opportunities can be found in different understandings of the resilience paradigm? Participants will be asked to select a city from the 100 Resilient Cities and use that as a case study throughout the seminar.
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Prof. Simin DAVOUDI
Director, GURU - Global Urban Research Unit, University of Newcastle
| 1988-1989 | Planning Consultant, Tyne and Wear Development Corporation, Newcastle |
| 1989-1993 | Full time Research Associate, Department of Town and Country Planning, Newcastle University |
| 1993-1996 | Part time Research Associate, Department of Town and Country Planning, Newcastle University |
| Planning Officer, Northumberland County Council, Morpeth | |
| 1996-2000 | Lecturer in Planning and Director of Undergraduate Planning Programme, Bartlett School of Planning, University College London |
| 2000-2006 | Professor of Planning and Environment, Director of Centre for Urban Development and Environmental Management, School of Built Environment, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds |
Mag. Dr. Rudolf GIFFINGER
Professor and Head of Center, Regional Science, Vienna University of Technology, Vienna
| 1975-1981 | Geography studies, University of Vienna |
| 1993-1988 | PhD, Faculty of Architecture and Spatial Planning, University of Technology, Vienna |
| 1998 | Habilitation, Regional Science, University of Technology, Vienna |
| since 1999 | Professor, University of Technology, Vienna |
| 2005-2009 | Head, Interdisciplinary Centre of European Spatial Development, University of Technology, Vienna |
| since 2006 | Full professor, University of Technology, Vienna; Head, Centre of Regional Sciences, Department of Spatial Planning, Faculty of Architecture and Planning, University of Technology, Vienna |
