Noteworthy articles on cities, the urban commons and sustainability, Georg Franck Die urbane Allmende and an issue on Central Europe’s urban identity from Eurozine, an online selection from several European magazines.
Franck argues for a new urbanism that focuses on the middle ground of sustainable, compact neighbourhoods rather than focusing only on architecture as individual green buildings, or the city at an metropolitan scale. I’ve heard this urban commons recently called the “middle landscape”, not detached sprawl, not the hyper-urban central business district but livable, mid-scaled sets of buildings that demand less energy while remaining functional and convivial. These example of Asian cities, however, suggests that as the planet moves toward an uban population of around 4.5 billion, it will be in the style and density of cities such as Jakarta, Hong Kong and Shanghai rather than the European ideal of Parisian cityscapes of 6 to 8 storeys.
– Rob