Introduction This piece describes my vision for urban health and wellbeing in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) cities. It advocates for two radical changes: Active Mobility and Access to Nature. Each of these brings multiple layers of physical and mental health benefits for the individual and the community. Moreover, they are both essential ingredients for a …
I’ve found myself reflecting on the role of technology more these days. It is definitely a means, not an end, in my world, and it is not going away, so let’s embrace it and use it creatively and consciously to help us meet our most important needs, resilience being one of them. Some thoughts on …
Along with 57 other urban environment professionals, I was invited to share my thoughts on how COVID-19 would change me professionally and personally. Full contributions here, excerpts from my piece below: On a personal level, the pandemic has helped me realise my fragility and dependency on others, particularly for my mental wellbeing. I hope that …
Whatever a post-COVID-19 world looks like, I\’m hoping that it will bring a renewed understanding and awareness of the importance of city resilience. My hope is that this is not narrowly focused on physical distancing and other pandemic-specific, short-term measures. Rather, what is needed is a strategic, long-term, and proactive look at the multiple shocks …
Urban Ecology in Arid Cities from Hollings Center on Vimeo. Urban Ecology in Arid Cities from Hollings Center on Vimeo.
I can’t remember the last time I was at a conference that was this much fun! Four days of listening, discussing, drawing, learning, meeting, laughing, observing, eating, walking… all things related to ‘green’ in the city. What is the impact of trees on air quality? Are green walls worth the hassle? How can we finance …
I had the pleasure of attending the Cities of the Arab World conference at Michigan State University last week. I have to admit I wasn’t sure what to expect, given it was the first academic conference I’ve attended in a long time. What I found particularly valuable was the interdisciplinary nature of the conference, with …
Cities of the Arab World – thoughts on an interdisciplinary conference Read More »
I had the honor of attending and speaking at the Meeting of the Minds Annual Summit in Cleveland two weeks ago. The event revolved around themes related to smart and sustainable cities and the digital economy and occurred amidst global debate on controversial data-driven projects like this one. I have to confess that I usually …
Provocation In his recent book, The Well-Tempered City, Jonathan Rose describes the development of cities from 3100 BC to the present day. I was struck by his description of the “Islamic City”: “Islam offered the cities it captured a coherent, integrating vision, accompanied by economic and religious freedom that encouraged diversity and contributed to prosperity.” (p.80) Rose …
My latest article on The Nature of Cities highlights and explores some of the questions raised by Marwa al-Sabouni’s thought-provoking book, The Battle for Home: The Vision of a Young Architect in Syria. The article does not do justice to Marwa’s book, which is packed with brave questions, observations, and challenges to current thinking and …
The Battle for Home: exploring questions of identity and architecture Read More »