Celebrating the new year of exploration, learning, progressing and enjoying by sharing some of the readings that inspired me in 2018. If you didn't see them first time round, hope you find something that helps you in whatever way you were looking for...
1/ What would a truly disabled-accessible city look like? in @guardiancities by @Saba_Salman, brilliantly articulating the physical inequality experienced in cities. theguardian.com/cities/2018/fe…
2/ Pulling no punches this was a great interview with @UandIplc chief Richard Upton aptly titled: Architecture ‘still up its own backside’ architectsjournal.co.uk/news/architect…
3/ A new friend from 2018 @robinmazumder really hitting home on inequality in infrastructure and the unjust privilege embedded in urban design and management. robinmazumder.com/2016/08/02/uns…
4/ Michael Hobbes (@RottenInDenmark) puts together possibly an era defining piece on the macro-economic situation of being a “millennial” highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/po…
5/ For a better look at ourselves this was a great read from @nytimes: “It would be perverse to embrace inconvenience as a general rule. But when we let convenience decide everything, we surrender too much.”
nytimes.com/2018/02/16/opi…
nytimes.com/2018/02/16/opi…
6/ @chakrabortty brought to light the great work that has been done by the visionary city leaders Preston who made their city all about the citizens and prospered in the long run, truly inspirational as we continue to feel austerity and economic inequality theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
7/ I'm hugely inspired by #UrbanFarming and #agritech, as transportation becomes costlier and more scrutinised due to emissions, this is a democratising and liberating system for people the world over. This piece in @wef is a great intro to the topic weforum.org/agenda/2018/01…
8/ The Psychology of Inequality: much of the damage done by being poor comes from feeling poor. A subject we’re going to be exploring more at @TheCentricLab in 2019. newyorker.com/magazine/2018/…
9/ Hip Hop Architecture: The Post Occupancy Report of Modernism in @Curbed. ‘the whole Hip-Hop Architecture movement, is about community. It’s about empowerment....it’s available to the community, to the client, and to the youth.” enough said - curbed.com/2018/10/8/1794…
10/ A powerful read addressing how one of the UK’s greatest assets, its finance industry, is also crippling the wider economy and country in many other ways. theguardian.com/news/2018/oct/…
11/ The Trouble with Architecture in @commonedge: “Architecture’s disconnect is both physical and spiritual. We’re attempting to sell the public buildings and neighborhoods they don’t particularly want, in a language they don’t understand.” commonedge.org/the-trouble-wi…
12/ 'The Lost Einsteins' - how we leave future productivity and prosperity untapped through infrastructure inequality. it’s very simple; improve options, improve outcomes. Great sociological piece in @nytimes nytimes.com/2017/12/03/opi…
13/ Forget all the rhetoric around efficiency, A #SmartCity Is an Accessible City. A great read in the @Atlantic theatlantic.com/technology/arc…
14/ 32 pages of an independent assessment of #AutonomousVehicles and their likely adoption into our society… vtpi.org/avip.pdf
15/ 'The Demise of the Nation State' by @byranadasgupta. A brilliant look back over history to see how people became citizens, and how the laws around citizenship changed in response to finance and economy. theguardian.com/news/2018/apr/…
16/ The @Economist breaking down how ‘Land’ which was the centre of the pre-industrial economy, has returned as a constraint on wider economic growth.
economist.com/briefing/2015/…
economist.com/briefing/2015/…
17/ ‘Construction is turning London into a city of holes’ by @edwinheathcote: "The chief function of London, today, it would seem, is to convert space into money. Is that ambition enough?” 🔥 ft.com/content/282e51…
18/ Last but hopefully not least, a self promotional plug for our publication with @futurecitiescat & @ECOLOGICALBRAIN team ‘Neuroscience for Cities’. Lead author @aracelicamargo_ worked w/@hugospiers to create a world first playbook. Still inspires me!!
futurecities.catapult.org.uk/project/neuros…
futurecities.catapult.org.uk/project/neuros…
