Metropolitics

Russia's “Authoritarian Modernization” Through Urbanization: What Lessons Can Be Learned from New Moscow?

Vladimir Pawlotsky & translated by Oliver Waine — 2024-06-28T05:00:00Z

Can the recent New Moscow urban development project shed light on the political, economic and demographic issues of contemporary Russia? Vladimir Pawlotsky questions the “authoritarian modernization” at the origin of this project, which has seen the Russian capital more than double in area.
Far from the ever more numerous warmongering diatribes he has been known for since 2022 and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, during his presidency (2008-2012) Dmitri Medvedev promoted the modernization of his

- From the Field / urban project, authoritarian regime, globalization, Moscow, metropolis, Russia

Cities in the Age of Financialization

2021-06-18T05:00:00Z

Over the past four decades, the financialization of capitalism has transformed economies, societies, and urban space. This series of articles examines the growing involvement of financial actors, instruments, and rationales in the production of the urban built environment; the role of public authorities in this process; and their social, political, and spatial consequences.
---- ▼ Jump to the list of articles in this series ▼ Since the global financial crisis of 2007–2008, the financial

- Series / finance, housing, financialization, real estate, urban project, urban development, development, urban planning

The Risk of “Foodwashing” in Calls for Innovative Urban Projects

Paula Macé Le Ficher & translated by Oliver Waine — 2019-02-22T06:00:00Z

Paula Macé Le Ficher analyzes the ways in which farming and food issues have been integrated into calls for innovative projects organized in Greater Paris, and highlights the potential these programs have for fostering new developments in the field of urban agriculture—while remaining realistic about extent to which they might transform the urban food system in the Paris region.
Since the start of the 2010s, food has emerged as an essential theme for urban projects. This rising prominence

- From the Field / food, Greater Paris, development, urban project, urban agriculture, foodwashing, calls for projects, farming, agriculture

Getting Night Lighting Right

Samuel Challéat & Dany Lapostolle & translated by Oliver Waine — 2018-11-02T06:00:00Z

Innovation in contemporary urban lighting has increasingly been driven by issues of sustainability. While environmental concerns focus attention on energy savings and reducing light pollution, taking account of how people use public spaces is important too, as artificial light can then be adjusted to actual needs. Following the pioneering work of Roger Narboni and Luc Gwiazdzinski, Samuel Challéat and Dany Lapostolle make the case for dedicated nocturnal city planning.
While the contributions

- Essays / France, urban planning, sustainable development, Toulouse, use of space, Grenoble, night, urban temporalities, urban project, lighting

The Flea Market of Marseille

Michèle Jolé & William Kornblum — 2016-05-17T05:00:00Z

Marseille's flea market (“marché aux puces”) lies at the heart of a vast urban renewal project that could end up wiping the market off the map for good. Michèle Jolé and William Kornblum, who have both adopted Marseille as their hometown, explore the loss that the transformation of this veritable institution would represent for the city's residents and, more generally, for the northern neighborhoods (“les Quartiers Nord”) of Marseille.
“The more we gain distance from the center, the more the

- From the Field / public space, urban renewal, market, Marseille, retail, commerce, informality, urban project

Streetcars Named Desire

Luc Gwiazdzinski & translated by Oliver Waine — 2016-03-15T06:00:00Z

Luc Gwiazdzinski provides an original and critical analysis of the changes affecting today's cities and contemporary urban production by focusing on the trams, streetcars and light-rail systems that increasingly form part of the urban landscape. He shows in particular how these vehicles, as vectors for urban regeneration, are used as tools for the “staging” of the city.
Humanity has always cultivated the art of storytelling – an art that is at the heart of social ties everywhere (Salmon

- Debates / public transportation, urban planning, governance, storytelling, transport, Strasbourg, urban regeneration, Bordeaux, Montpellier, mass transit, urban project, tramway, tram, streetcar, light rail, fictional urban planning, Tours

Starchitects: walking the line between individuality and conformity

Géraldine Molina & translated by Oliver Waine — 2015-02-19T05:50:00Z

The stars of the worlds of architecture and urban planning are prime targets of research, with the aim of understanding the imaginative processes involved in the production of our cities. Géraldine Molina takes a closer look at today's “starchitects” and shows how they have helped to personalise thinking and action regarding the city over the last three decades, while at the same time – and somewhat paradoxically – leading to a certain normalisation of practices.
---- Series: The Renewed

- Essays / architecture, urban planning, profession, star system, distinction, urban project, model, conformity

Nantes' urban project: putting the Bilbao model to the test

Amélie Nicolas & translated by Oliver Waine — 2014-11-13T05:50:00Z

The experiences of Bilbao and its urban transformations have been shared and integrated into the urban-planning cultures of numerous European cities. In Nantes, the success of Bilbao initially inspired much of the strategic thinking and planning for the Île de Nantes project, until criticisms of the “Bilbao model” began to come to the fore, ultimately leading to the development of a “Nantes-style urban planning” that takes account of the city's specificities – and which could even be considered

- From the Field / urban planning, urban renewal, urban regeneration, heritage, Nantes, Bilbao, urban project, dissemination of urban references, flagship facility, culture-based economy, tourism, museum