Debates on the Urban Revolution and polycentrism

Synekism and the origin of cities Recently I have been working on the concept of Urban Revolution and reading a lot on the origin of cities. In the thirties of the past century, the archaeologist Gordon Childe proposed the theory of an urban revolution taking place after the neolithic (that is agricultural) revolution. He analysed …

Merry Christmas post: Summary of the year in Changing cities

In order to celebrate the end of the year and to wish you all merry Christmas, I summarise what I have done so far, and what has happened in cities and urban studies around me. 2015 has been a productive year in many ways. In our research group, we have finished some projects and started …

Origen, potencialidades y flaquezas del concepto de innovación social

El uso continuo de conceptos nuevos para definir y analizar fenómenos sociales es una tendencia ya antigua pero en crecimiento en las ciencias sociales. La necesidad continua de producir nuevos conocimientos y de tener un impacto en la literatura existente y el sistema de producción científica basada en artículos explica en parte esta tendencia. Hoy …

Detroit: the fascination for urban decay

Since its bankruptcy, Detroit is receiving increasing attention from the media and from urban researchers. Here you will find a brief analysis of the literature. For Europeans of my generation, Detroit was a faraway industrial city with lots of problems and violence that we could only see in movies. In Beverly Hills Cop (Superdetective en …

Urban laboratories: a useful concept for social sciences?

The concept of urban laboratory is being increasingly used in policy-making and social research to understand processes of creation of knowledge in cities. The idea of city as a laboratory means that there is some kind of experimentation with city life in order to understand and to intervene in the reality. In these 'laboratories' there is analysis of how inhabitants use the city and interact amongst themselves and new solutions are tested in order to improve city life.

Greetings from Changingcities (and a short summary of 2014)

Last year I was complaining that I produced only six posts, this year I produced only three, counting this one. But I don't give up, and I will continue posting in the eighth year of Changing cities as the current blog. Looking in perspective I could have written more this 2014 as it has been …

Cambios en la gobernanza global y auge de los independentismos

En este post voy a intentar encuadrar el auge del independentismo catalán en el contexto global. Lo haré siguiendo una aproximación materialista, así que no esperen encontrar debates sobre el 'derecho a decidir'. Solo argumento sobre las causas materiales que han hecho crecer el proceso. Los que nos dedicamos a estudiar la gobernanza hemos visto …

The European Spatial Development Planning Network Intensive Program Ankara 2014

With 25 years of experience behind, the European Spatial Development Planning Network (ESPD) offers once a year a comprehensive intensive program on planning on the ground, that includes theoretical insights, the collection of data and the development of proposals for planning in a given city. The strong point of the program is its interdisciplinarity, with …

Merry Christmas from Changing Cities

A Strange year in Changing Cities, with only five posts, six with this one. Let's hope having a more productive 2014,which promises to be strange and exhausting when looking at it from Barcelona.I hope you all a Christmas full of inspiration with your people. Take some time to remember with joy those that are no …

Del Poblenou al 22@ y de vuelta: identidades locales y arraigo de la actividad económica

  Después de más de 10 años de desarrollo del proyecto 22@, existe una literatura abundante en los estudios urbanos sobre sus efectos y consecuencias. Desde la economía se ha analizado qué éxito ha tenido el distrito de actividades 22@ en términos de creación de un nuevo distrito industrial en la ciudad, y si está …