The global city is most often branded as being open, inclusive, and vibrant, attracting multi-national corporations and transnational economic investments, while depending on the migrant community that provide cheap and affordable labour. However, with the surge of the European refugee crises since 2014, different global cities have adopted different strategies to control the situation. In some cases, countries like the UK have closed their borders, relatively, whilst few others have adopted more inclusive approaches for refugee integration. The aim of this research is to analyze the underlying values of the practices of urbanism in the 21st century, from a global and comparative perspective.
For the purpose of this analysis, two categories of convenience [and an admittedly false dichotomy] have been crafted: the global city versus the refugee city. In reality, these are discursive vehicles to compare, critically assess and understand the underlying values that lead to the design of cities, present and future. The primary methodological approach is a critical comparative study of two specific programmes, (i) The Core Strategy : The City of London Corporation’s local development plan (2011) titled “Delivering a successful World-class city” in London and, (ii) The undocumented Migrants Programme by the Amsterdam City Council (2017) titled “Working towards a sustainable perspective” in Amsterdam. This involves a qualitative interpretive policy analysis research into each case to critically explore the underlying core values in the practices of urbanism. This research could provide insights for rethinking alternate and emerging radical practices of city-making in the contemporary city.
Publications
Paper presentation in the International Conference in Urban Studies (Online) organised by the London Centre for Interdisciplinary Research (LCIR), Cambridge. ( May 09-12, 2020 )
Poster presented a at the launch of the ‘Migration Ethnicity And Diversity [MEAD]’ interdisciplinary SOSCI research group at the Doctoral Academy at Cardiff University. (December 12, 2019 )
Research Presentation for the MA Architectural Design [MAAD] – EMUVE studio unit at Friary House, Cardiff University. ( December 02, 2019 )
Research group Seminar presentation – WSA Urbanism Research Group. ( November 22, 2019)
International Conference on Forced Migration Studies (ICFMRS 2019), London. (June 27-28, 2019 )
Research Seminar presentation at the RGS-IBG Mid Term Conference at Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU). ( April 24-26, 2019)
Contact
Monisha Margaret Peter [Tutor – MA Urban design Programme, WSA]
Email: PeterM@cardiff.ac.uk