School of Geography and Planning Ysgol Daeryddiaeth a Chynllunio
Urban Theory Provocations Jinnurain Tasbir Shatil International Planning and Urban Design (IPUD)
Contents 1. Context and Questions 2. Choices and Objectives 3. Communication and Ideas 4. References
Context and Questions:
Observation Notes
Documentation of observation while surveying the site
Introduction: Due to the rapid urbanization over the past few decades, people are moving faster toward cities. Nowadays, 56% of the world’s population lives in cities which is approximately 4.4 billion. This ongoing phenomenon will rise, and the population will double its current size by 2050 means nearly seven people out of 10 will live in cities (World Bank 2022). Although every city has its geographical boundary, globally, cities have no boundaries with enormous possibilities of interactions, communications, and connectivity; on the other hand, sociologically, cities are losing hope of enjoying urban life with basic amenities (Amin 2006). Therefore, cities need to see from a different perspective to make them liveable places for the people they belong.
Location: The location of the Cathays Park Campus of Cardiff University is very crucial. Because it is the heart of the university area, surrounded by Bute Park, residential areas at Cathays, university student accommodations, and the City Center, some of the primary roads, such as North Road and Boulevard De Nantes, secondary roads, such as Park Place and Corbet Road, and tertiary roads such as Senghennydd Road have gone through which has made this whole area a vital point of the city (Figure 01).
Figure 01 / Location Map and Contextual Map of Cardiff University Area
The Good City
According to Amin and Thrift (2002), every city runs in a particular order that comprises everyday objects, such as road signals, post-codes, pipes and overhead cables, satellites, office design and furniture, clocks, commuting patterns, computers and telephones, automobiles, software, schedules, and databases, etc. and controls the urban economic, political, social, and cultural life. As a result, many urban rhythms are aligned in different ways, for instance, in how goods are delivered or traffic flows, in Internet protocols, in civic and public behaviour rituals, in work routines, and in the traditions and cultures found in workplaces and neighborhoods. Defining these objects as a 'technological unconscious,' Thrift (2005) says they provide 'technology of interaction' that would make urban life impossible without it, while Gandy (2002) considers them the urban life support system.
Traffic Intersections Nodes Urban Threshold There are eight traffic signals surrounding the Cathays Park area, which are crucial in position as they are the nodal points of the area with different scales and activities (Figure 02). Moreover, these nodal points
act as the urban threshold of this area between formality and informality. Different
groups of people of different ages from the surrounding informal neighborhoods and residential areas must
pass these nodes to enter the Cathays Park University main building area, which is highly academic and formal. The boundaries between two spaces, such as doorways, windows, gates, and corridors, are seen as thresholds by the theorists, which define who has access to what and when, as well as the emotions accompanying that change. Although thresholds seem like ordinary demarcations that separate an inside from outside, like a doorstep, making separations is also the act of establishing connections (Stavros 2015).
Figure 02 / Location Map and Contextual Map of Cardiff University Area
Site Exploration Key Map
The nodes have been explored at different times on weekdays and weekends. It has been observed that the overall vibes of these traffic intersections do not differ at day and night times. As most of the users of these traffic intersections are students, they go to different parts of the city from this place on weekdays and weekends for common interests such as studying, interacting, and celebrating their academic life. That is why these nodes are always vibrant and happening. There is always something going on in these nodes. By bringing people from different backgrounds together in everyday situations, a habit of intercultural formation can emerge with enormous opportunities (Amin 2002, Body-Gendrot 2000, Keith 2005). The area has also been explored for further in-depth analysis with a series of vision images (Figure 03 and Figure 04). While observing people's activity and interactions in the nodes, it has also been observed that different groups of people with different ideologies and ethnicity pause or stop their journey in these nodes and then again enter the Cathays Park University area. According to Pred (2000), if the city's public culture can sustain diversity and disagreement, it suits the citizens.
Figure 03 / Site exploration through series of vision
01
Towards King Edward (VII) Avenue
02
From North Road to Corbet Road
Figure 04 / Node Exploration to identify the potential points to go-in
04
From City Center to Park Place
Radical Politics Moreover, some specific point within the nodes feels like an entrance to the area. People must pass through that points and get into a new area. Although there was no demarcation of entrances, it is the people who make their choices with radical politics, which is a process for fundamentally transforming the city by introducing new interventions such as new ways of sensing and thinking about the city, new ways of organizing the city aesthetically, etc. A radical intervention means fundamentally transforming current power relations; some kind of 'revolution' refers to what people do for a noticeable change. Politics also refer to freedom that is different from liberation and expresses a positive meaning: a state or thing that spontaneously begins a succession. However, the radical aesthetic does not consider moral, religious, or social criteria, but rather considers the underlying truth and impacts on the individual and collective way of being (Rancière, 2009).
Freedom of Choice From observing the nodal activities, people want to exercise their freedom. Freedom of choice indicates where and how to enter the Cathays Park Area. They don’t bother about the formal entrances or demarcation. They choose to come and enter freely as a group and enjoy their freedom as a collective total. As Amin (2006) mentioned, a good city celebrates the social and cultural aspects of urban life that create hopes and rewards. Like the other form, such as jazz and Tupperware parties’ mass political meetings and open-air cinema, the freedom of the people to enter a new area or site can also be considered urban enchantment. Sites like these contribute significantly to the urban public culture. They are a crucial filter for judging urban life on a collective social level, as strangers can engage freely and become visible to each other (Sennett 1998, Rogers and Powers 2000).
Choices and Objectives:
The Image of the City
Peripheral Roads Major Intersections Site Boundary Social Network All the peripheral major roads that connect the traffic intersections surrounding the Cathays Park area have created an invisible boundary of the site as shown in the map (Figure 03). But site boundaries are
one of the limitations in the field of urban design. Because urban design is not a mere single element rather it comprises different elements which form a social network that reflects the opinions of the majority in society (Lynch 1981).
Rhizomes From Figure 05, it can be understood that people come from various parts of the city that have their unique identities, histories, and experiences in living in the society. All these create multiple and overlapping layers that can never be expressed with a single entity but rather a collective total. Therefore, when they enter the site by using nodes from different parts, it creates networks for new ideas, opportunities, connections, and possibilities. This network can be referred to as rhizomes. According to Deleuze and Guattari, the rhizome is a philosophical model for explaining a non-hierarchical, decentralized mode of thinking that emphasizes connections, multiplicity, and openness (Araabi and McDonald 2019). Rhizomes do not represent any prefixed shapes and sizes rather they evolve with the surrounding contexts. There is no center, periphery, or point of origin for the rhizome, unlike trees and other hierarchical structures rather it is composed of a network of nodes and connections that can grow and change in any direction. One of the key aspects of Rhizomic views is that it results in seeing connections between different chaotic aspects of the universe particularly between humans and non-humans which can be found in the connections between the people and nodes of the Cathays Park area. People come from different directions and assemble in these traffic intersections and then again enter the area which forms a connection between the people and traffic intersections. As there is an inherent openness to rhizomatic structures, this allows for new possibilities and connections to emerge and encourages innovation and experimentation. Moreover, city spaces are not segregated but in continuous interaction with other cities, cultures, and ecosystems. That creates an assemblage. As mentioned by (Araabi and McDonald 2019), assemblage is closely associated with the concept of rhizomes, a philosophical model for explaining the world.
Figure 05 / Different parts of the city are connected as one and create a network of new ideas that referred as rhizomes.
Assemblage The concept of assembly refers to the assembly of several forms of content (actions, bodies, and things) and expression (affects, words, and ideas) into one product (Buchanan 2015, 390). Moreover, when connections between entities produce an arrangement that functions in a specific way, assemblies are formed through territorialization (Deleuze and Guattari 2012). In the urban design context, an assemblage of a city refers to the actors such as individual buildings, streets, parks, objects, landscapes, people, etc. As the co-relations of these actors are always reforming and advancing, they open new windows to achieving cultural vibrancy, and environmental sustainability. The map shown in Figure 06, reflects the assemblage of the people in the nodes. People from different backgrounds, different cultures, and different parts of the city rush to an area through some traffic intersections that create the assemblage of people in the nodes. All the components create connections within themselves that are not prefixed or predetermined but continuously evolving. That is one of the key impacts of theoretical assemblage. According to Parr (2010), Deleuze and Guattari develop a vocabulary in their work, that emphasizes how things are connected rather than how they are, and that tendencies might evolve in creative mutation rather than as a reality. They have also considered things not as mere objects but rather assemblages or multiplicities.
Figure 06 / Assemblage of People, Objects, Nodes and Gateways
Interactions of the Assemblage These assemblages work together so closely that they can find a system, pattern, and behaviour without the interference and dominance of any authorities, agencies, communities, or individuals. The co-relations of the assemblages enjoy the freedom of choice without the fear of anything. This widens a new prospect for the Cathays Park area which allows people to welcome through the traffic nodes. Therefore, this process of bringing people from different backgrounds together to work on common interests, results in an intercultural habit (Amin 2002, Body-Gendrot 2000, Keith 2005). Assemblages generate a few important concepts. Among them, the idea of territorialization and de-territorialization is one of the factors that relate the relation among the Cathays Park Area, the people and their continuous movements, and the nodes that they use frequently which give them free access as an entry point having no visible boundaries. Territorialization defines specific outlines of a particular area and establishes control within it which creates stable structures but eventually results in rigidity. On the other hand, De-territorialization is the system of removing boundaries and developing connections and relations between the components. Although this process has some limitations such as instability and unpredictability this is very flexible and can create enormous new possibilities by strengthening the co-relations with the components. As shown in Figure 06, the assemblage of people interacts with another assemblage of nodes and together they have developed new possibilities to create a particular point where different assemblages interact. The assemblage of people does not have any site boundaries as they come from different parts, gather, and establish connections between themselves and then with others’ assemblage or other components of the system De-territorialization system. Although the mapping cannot define their destination, nonetheless it creates options that people can go anywhere in the area or outside this area using the major roads. All the flexibilities develop new opportunities like collective interactions, communications, and even socialization along the side the academic purpose. So, the nodes are not only the threshold between the formal and informal areas but also a demarcation that welcomes people to do something innovative.
Communications and Ideas
De Bono
Green Hat Thinking
Urban design is a creative process that allows the agencies to utilize the resources differently to provide an experience to the citizens. As various ideologies are inherently connected to urban designing processes. Therefore, it is the responsibility of urban designers or thinkers to make themselves aware to respond to different ethical frameworks with their critical thinking process for the future of our cities to remain sustainable. A very simple model developed by De Bono in the form of wearing different colored hats can be used to greatly enhance critical thinking and create opportunities for solving any problems (Kivunja
2015). To generate creative design
interventions that will come up with advanced thinking and new approaches to solving problems De Bono (1982), the ‘Green Hat Thinking’
method will be followed in this section analysis of the facts and factors from phase one and phase two. De Bono (1992b) suggests four types of
activities that can be used to teach students how to use this hat: 1) Generating reactive ideas, 2) Generating starting ideas, 3) Generating further and better ideas, and 4) Generating new ideas.
Entrace / Gateway In Figure 07, an archway-shaped object facing Bute Park has been visualized in the node between the north road and the road that passes through the park road. The object serves not only as an entrance but also as a Landmark where an assemblage of people can gather and diverge to different points of the site. The size and proportion of the object are significantly large which will have an impact on the people who come from different areas and eventually on the city as these spaces hold the over city together. The color of the entrance has been intentionally red to symbolize the boldness in scale and in color as well. From the practical perspective, the material of this entrance has been considered as something that will illuminate itself at the same time the whole node and adjacent areas. This illumination also attracts people so does the refurbished surface of red textures and separate blue surfaces for pavements. In Figure 08, an area of diverse types of activities has been illustrated. There are also several types of gateways to attract the people who gather at that node fr om distinct parts of the cities. These gateways give them a sort of feelings to go inside and explore the area. All these create social cohesion that continues with the textured surface common walkway that is too dynamic. Different types and sizes of entrances in the different frames create a progression of urban life where these objects as gateways provide clear demarcation without any visual barrier. While going from one frame to another, from one space to another, these gateways represent them as linkers or connectors of those spaces (Figure 08). Different user groups gather in these spaces and interact with each other and ultimately this whole area will be a communication and interaction hub for the whole city in terms of urban scale where these entrances will be the landmarks and symbol for the whole city. Figure 07 / People coming from different parts of the city are rushing towards the Entraces to go-in and explore the area inside.
Figure 08 / Progression of urban life where the gateways provide clear demarcation of entrances and exploration.
Figure 09 / This intervention will be a Landmark of this area that will always welcome people to come in and explore inside.
Figure 10 / The entrance will be a symbol of the node that will create opportunities for generating new ideas.
Symbol
Interaction Hub From Figure 09, It is seen that a different group of people is entering King Edward (VII) Avenue through an arch like object that provides a gateway to this area. The size of this Entrance is dominating in a positive sense that can bring people to a particular area from different parts of the city by its massiveness, scale, height, proportion, construction material, technique, etc. This intervention will be a Landmark of this area that will always welcome people to come in and explore inside. The entrance will be a symbol of the node that is not only a signage of entry but also an object that will have created opportunities for people to check in and go inside, which will make the place a place of urban interactions hub.
Figure 11 / Interactions in Entrances between different group of people from different parts of the city to explore new opportunities and ideas.
Journey
Creative Intervension If the whole space can be imagined as a single frame in Figure 12, it can be observed that this whole area has got a progression through the Arch shaped entry to King Edward (VII) Avenue. If some interventions can be into the textures of pavement surfaces by refurbishing them with different colors that will always indicate pathways and invite people to explore Glamorgan Building, Bute Building, Alexandria Park, Cardiff City Hall, or National Museum, Cardiff. By entering this area through the archway, they will start an immediate journey of experiences that will give them a taste of exploring this whole area differently as a citizen to enjoy the freedom of urban life that the city regularly provides us. Here, some assemblage of people, entry-like objects with different shapes and sizes have been integrated together and formed a harmony of spaces that are well connected to the city. According to the green hat thinking, this area can also witness the small creative intervention that can transform an entire space and eventually transform the city into a social cohesion hub by dividing it into small pieces which are also connected with each other and letting people inviting to go in. The creative invention will generate new ideas for the city and for the citizens to explore the city differently than it appears to be and enjoys every aspect of urban life that brings enormous opportunities to the people’s lives, communities, societies, and cities.
Figure 12 / The small creative intervention can transform an entire space into a social cohesion hub by dividing it into small pieces which are also connected with each other and create a progression of urban life.
People’s City A small intervention that changes the whole city vibe has got a separate title called ‘Tactical Urbanism’. Specifically, tactical urbanism transforms spaces that are not consolidated into consolidated spaces, in that space starts playing a role in cities (Silva 2010), which has evident benefits to the urban form, interpreted because of how spaces are experienced (Secchi 2003). As design interventions, the gateways of this area are small in scale, but the impact is unique as they invite people for experiencing a different area of the city which can provide a journey for people through some roads and pavements by interacting with each other. Being small design interventions, these entrances will have a significant impact on people’s lives, and they will bring positive changes to the interactions and communications of different elements of the city. Altogether, they will represent a city or a particular space that can be the center of a city and its people through different creative small interventions, which will provide the freedom that urban city life needs to flourish as a city of people’s choice. The city where people’s interests, interactions, communications, options, celebrations, and freedom will be reflected as the inclusive components of city life.
References
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Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody. Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities
