Cities News Cities Programme newsletter issue 20 Summer 2017 Congratulations to Rachel Brain, Rosemary Havener, Stephanie Teaching 2016-17: Lai and Vivian Zhu, who submitted their Studio project on Hydro- Ricky Burdett Urbanism to the Creative Suzi Hall Conscience Awards and won a Julia King Silver Award in the Architecture, David Madden Engineering and Interior Design Philipp Rode category. Don Slater Fran Tonkiss The potential of the underused Savvas Verdis lakes and canals in Thamesmead are explored whilst also proposing MSc Programme Manager: a holistic strategy that integrates Anna Livia Johnston ecological restoration with social MSc student news and economic development. You T: 020 7955 6828

can read more from their Creative On 6 June 2017 MSc City Design Conscience winners webpage. For enquiries please email students, staff, alumni and guests [email protected] celebrated the launch of the latest Cities Studio publication Website: Connected City, edited by current lse.ac.uk/LSECities/citiesProgramme students Rachel Brain and Ravi Anand Loknath. Cities News editor: Anna Livia Johnston This year the Studio focused on residents and small, “invisible” differing forms of connection in Thamesmead, responding to the businesses within the area. varied scales at which the site is Through mapping, census data analysis and semi-structured severed from the rest of interviews with local “invisible” and the Thames. Thamesmead business owners, the research also provided a context to consider focused on understanding these new connections, accompanied by a predicted substantial population “invisible” businesses and reveals growth and large-scale and explores three key characteristics of the interactions construction of new forms of Ideas for Thamesmead water system (detail), image courtesy of Rosemary between them and the urban housing. Havener. landscape of Thamesmead.

Working in interdisciplinary groups, Congratulations too to Bridget At the same conference, Ignacio our students explored how different Ackeifi, José Cesar Faria, Uliarte was selected to present his forms of physical and social Ghadeer Mansour, Oliver Tovatt dissertation called “Work in connections provide networks and and Ignacio Uliarte, who were Progress: Mapping the urban systems for thinking about selected to present their Studio economy of co-working spaces in emerging micro-economies, project “Mapping Thamesmead’s everyday patterns of mobility, London”. This research explores Economic Landscape: An how new technologies have relations between civic life and the ethnographic approach to self- politics of social housing, disrupted our urban economies, re- employment and invisible arranging both production and alternative logics for managing economies in south east London” at consumption chains, in a way that public space, and the underlying the 10th International Forum of citizens can be part-time asset of water that has historically Urbanism: The Entrepreneurial producers, suppliers and/or shaped the site. These explorations City, in Hong Kong in December are located in the context of providers. It is a spatial analysis of this year. co-workspaces and their growing urban inequalities and relationship with urban space; definitive shifts in how urban The research explores employment trying to figure out how London’s resources are financed and trends within Thamesmead, a labour landscape is changing due distributed. historically low income community. to entrepreneurialism and co- In an attempt to understand Connected City is available to read working spaces, and to what extent employment and local economic those new ways of labour can be (as a PDF for each chapter) from opportunity, the research found a seen as a tool to tackle economic the Cities Programme webpages: significant number of self-employed exclusion. Cities Studio publications. Cities News Ximena Ocampo (2012) is For this year’s international field trip currently developing (together our students visited Naples from with dérive LAB) a new cultural 13-17 February, accompanied by centre dedicated to architecture, Dr Suzi Hall and Dr David Madden. arts and urban topics in Querétaro, Their programme was put together Mexico called BEMA. What were by Italy-based Neapolitan expert Dr once squash courts and a ball Nick Dines, who also accompanied room, will become a building open them on their visit. for exhibitions, workshops and lectures that will also offer a residency for artists, architects and other professionals to work with the neighborhood for short periods of time. BEMA will open its doors at the end of 2017! More info: http://bema.space. Warm and fuzzy? Cover of Plat issue 7, courtesy of Francis Aguillard.

Cristian Gil (2016) was invited to the regional convening for Latin America organised by The Young MSc City Design students and staff in Naples, February 2017. Image courtesy of Scholars Initiative of The Institute Bridget Ackeifi. for New Economic Thinking in from 17-21 June to Alumni news present his independent project concerned with economic diversity Francis Aguillard (Class of 2016) in secondary cities. Cristian has BEMA space. Image courtesy of Marcos been part of the City Resilience Betanzos. is completing his Master of Profiling Program of UN-Habitat Architecture at Rice University and Anna Bray Sharpin (2013) has will be Editor-in-Chief of the next until July 2017. joined the World Resources issue of the school's independent Institute's Ross Center for student journal, PLAT. The topic for Juergen Kufner (PhD 2012) Sustainable Cities in Washington this issue will be Sharing. The presented a paper entitled DC as a Transportation Associate. journal hopes to investigate issues "Rescuing Consensus: Societal She is working on research and related to the built environment and Transformation in a Post-political direct engagement to help cities the so-called sharing economy. In Condition", at the AESOP Annual improve safety for people walking James Ponsoldt’s new film, The Congress 2017 in Lisbon: Spaces and cycling. A key focus of her work Circle, employees of a tech of Dialogue for Places of Dignity: is reducing vehicle speeds in cities company shout, “Sharing is caring!” Fostering the European Dimension - which she wrote about on the during a TED conference style all- of Planning in July 2017. He CityFix website. Prior to joining company meeting. This issue of demonstrated the possibility of WRI, Anna was a Non Motorized PLAT will investigate if this recognising the potentials of Mobility specialist with the Institute ubiquitous phrase, first consensus for transforming for Transportation and trademarked in the 1950s by the conflictual relations. This is part of Development Policy (ITDP) in Salvation Army, is still relevant a series of papers that develop an Mexico City. While working there, today. If so, how? And regardless, approach of planning as sociation, she coordinated and co-authored a what does it all mean for based on Georg Simmel’s social guide to improving safety for people architecture and urbanism? theory. riding bikes in Mexican cities,

Más Ciclistas, Más Seguros (More Magdalena Morel (2012) is project Feel free to get in touch with Cyclists, Safer Cyclists) which was Francis and the team manager at the non-profit Casa de published by the Mexican ([email protected]) with any la Paz in Santiago, Chile, and is Department of Health. questions. Also check out the heading the community

engagement process for the website, platjournal.com, for the full Sarah Ichioka (2003) is curating call for submission and submit your redesign of the city's 12km main an exhibition on Urban Eco-villages projects, thoughts, rants, and avenue, the Alameda-Providencia. within the inaugural Seoul Biennale anything else that you think needs Over 4,000 people have of Architecture and Urbanism-- to be heard. participated in consultations and themed "Imminent Commons"-- workshops, discussing the which will run from 2 September - 5 dilemmas surrounding this project November 2017: which aims to improve conditions http://seoulbiennale.org/en/ for public transport, pedestrians

and cyclists.

Newsletter of the Cities Programme, LSE, Summer 2017 2 Cities News Sarah is also serving on the jury of lives) with a focus on thoughtfully trends, culture, theory, policy, the Resilient by Design Bay Area designed public spaces and action, and was interviewed by the Challenge, a year-long initiative ownership of civic responsibility. BBC World Service about housing that invites teams to "proactively Congratulations to Josh, who will issues raised by the Grenfell Tower reimagine a better future by receive his award at the BSA fire. creating a blueprint for resilience Design Awards Gala in February that harnesses Bay Area innovation 2018. David presented a plenary lecture and serves as a model for at the annual conference of the communities around the world." Urban designer and architect Housing Studies Association, and http://www.resilientbayarea.org/the Claudia Sinatra (2014) is involved also gave talks and lectures at challenge/ in a project called What the Warwick University, the Geography Street!?, a dataviz project by Department at LSE, the Royal moovel lab for the interactive Academy of Art, and the offices of exploration of mobility space in Karakusevic Carson Architects. cities around the world. It compares how fairly cities allocate urban LSE Cities news space towards cars, bikes and public transportation. The project Experiencing Density is a project also illustrates how, according to jointly led by LSE Cities and LSE recent scientific insights, 93% of all London that explores resident parking space could be regained by experiences of life in London’s new the efficient use of self-driving cars, high-density housing. Following on

Image courtesy of Sara Ichioka. amounting to 6 Central Parks in from a 2004 report by LSE Cities on . What the Street!? high-density housing as an Alejandro Sajgalik (2013) has uses OpenStreetMap data from 23 emergent trend, this released a performative/reflexive world cities, including London, interdisciplinary study explores who documentary called Holy Delta, Beijing and Singapore, to create lives in high-density developments, about his journey inside an unique, comparative data how different residents experience uncompleted lake in Bucharest, visualisations of massive parking life in high-density accommodation, during which he unravels the inner and movement spaces. Blog: and what spatial, design and workings of utopian desire. The http://lab.moovel.com/blog/about- demographic factors make them short film is in distribution with what-the-street work well (or not). Video Out (Vancouver). Faculty news The research directors are Ricky Burdett and Philipp Rode from Dr Suzanne Hall recently LSE Cities with Kathleen Scanlon published an article on ‘Mooring and Tony Travers (LSE London). Super-diversity to a brutal migration The researchers are Julia King, milieu’. The article was Mel Nowicki and Tim White. Read commissioned for the Ethnic and more from the LSE Cities webpage: Racial Studies journal’s 40th Experiencing Density. anniversary. Suzi also chaired a

Holy Delta, image courtesy of Alejandro panel on social inclusion at RIBA’s News from the Editor: Sajgalik. international conference on architecture and the New Urban I’m finally leaving the Cities Joshua Simoneau, AIA (2012), Agenda. Programme after nearly 10 very an architect and urban designer at happy years! I’ll still be based in the Utile in Boston, was selected as the Dr David Madden published an Department of Sociology at LSE recipient of the Boston Society of article in the journal Urban though, in a new role as Knowledge Architects (BSA) 2017 Earl R. Studies titled "Pushed Off the Map: Exchange and Impact Officer from Flansburgh Young Architects Toponymy and the politics of place 1 September. I’ve really enjoyed Award, which recognizes design in New York City,” examining meeting so many interesting and excellence by an architect under struggles over neighbourhood committed people from around the 40. The selection committee noted renaming as ways to understand world who have joined the that Josh is “a rare and exceptional the politics of housing and urban programme as MSc and PhD person with an admirable space. students (and teachers), and dedication to design excellence keeping in touch with many of them and community participation.” His David wrote a blog post for The as alumni. I hope that the portfolio is in keeping with the spirit Sociological Review about the programme and all connected with of Flansburgh (a Boston architect Grenfell Tower disaster of 14 June: it will continue to thrive as the Cities who was an advocate for emerging Deadly Cityscapes of Inequality. ‘family’ grows. professionals and guided by the He also wrote an editorial about the philosophy that a well-designed disaster for issue 21.1 of the Best wishes to all of you – Anna building improves the quality of our journal CITY: Analysis of urban

Newsletter of the Cities Programme, LSE, Summer 2017 3 Cities News Thanks from the Director:

I’d like to express enormous appreciation for all Anna has done for the Cities Programme and its students and staff over her time as Programme Manager. Anna has been a steadfast, calm and caring presence in the Programme. She has seen hundreds of students dash through at the last minute with essay and project submissions, and has maintained consideration and humour throughout. Both Fran and I have found her to be a hugely supportive colleague and friend in our respective roles as Director. I’m personally relieved that Anna will still have a strong presence in the Department, and will have to restrain myself from calling on her for on-going advice. From all of us Anna, a huge thank you, and our very best wishes for your next role as Knowledge Exchange and Impact Officer.

Suzi

Newsletter of the Cities Programme, LSE, Summer 2017 4