THIS ISSUE... by Lia Brum
Dear reader, This is the first time the editorial of Cities+ is written by a nonnative English speaker; neologisms and awkwardness may be expected. More than any previous issue, Cities+language goes beyond its limits, to breaks its own myths, even when at risk of going up in smoke! We invite you to delve into a new world of urban metalanguages over the next clicks, and go on a journey far beyond any recognised lexicon. We are not here to speculate about whether urbanites’ mouths are pronouncing more or less Arabic, English, Chinese, Russian, Esperanto or any other of the hundreds (or even thousands) of communication codes already identified through human history on this planet. Instead, we are here to explore how Cities speak through bodies, books, buildings, cracked images, children’s drawings, grafitti, ground diagram sillouettes, maps, mechanical sounds, musical notes, pictures, poems, scents, sidewalks. Consider this issue as a multi-sensory dictionary, whose entries go far beyond words, and go back to them - or simply start with them. We are thrilled to present you the fourth issue of Cities+ and take a moment to acknowledge a milestone- that this mag has been striving for two years now. This would not be possible without the support of readers and sharers like you, and the work of volunteer contributors and editors. Slowly but steadily, despite waves of procrastination (whose master is the one who writes this very text), Cities+ continues to bring, above all, the diversity of foreign brains who cannot stop thinking about the endless possibilities of urban spaces, and translating them into limitless languages. Play with language we will, to carry on. Thank you for your on-going interest and welcome to: