Public City, Private City
This is a workshop in the framework of the three-year pilot-programme \"Rethinking Asian Studies in a Global Context\". The objective of the workshop is to identify and develop new forms of knowledge related to urban planning in cities with an increasingly large role for large-scale private capital and top-down (public and private-led) planning.
Picture (c) WiNG: Entrance Plaza of Sceneway Garden, a private housing estate in Hong Kong
Dates: 27 & 28 August 2014
The role of large-scale private capital and top-down (public and private-led) planning is increasing rapidly in cities all over the world. This is expressed physically in the rise of private spaces and neighborhoods (from shopping malls to gated communities) and the displacement of low-income populations and gentrification from/in city centers, giving rise to new “generic cities”.
At the heart of the “public city, private city” debate is the role of planning. Traditionally a public task, justified by the assumption that government is better able to protect the public interest, urban planning is increasingly being devolved to private players. This is especially true in developing countries, where public capacities of urban planning bodies are low to begin with and where private planning is therefore often welcomed, by policy makers and constituents alike.
For the full text see: Forum 4: The Idea of the City in Asian Contexts - Public City, Private City
This workshop is part of:
Rethinking Asian Studies in a Global Context
Forum 4: "The Idea of the City in Asian Contexts"
"Rethinking Asian Studies in a Global Context" (2014-2016) is a three-year IIAS pilot programme funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation (New York) aimed at reshaping the field of Asian studies by fostering new humanities-focused research.