Successfully held:

21st INURA Conference

Mexico City / Tepoztlán 2011

Short report and acknoledgement:

The speakers and tours were very extremely inspiring. The introduction at the UNAM provided necessary background for the tours and debates. Even though three days of tours can never be enough to see Mexico City we got a well-chosen cross-section of the metropolis, not only geographically.

What we learned about the almost unbelievable land-grabbing practices of the elites fit perfectly with this year’s conference title 'Urban Growth: Legality Limits'. It was impressive to see how the groups we visited confronted these forces with a variety of actions and programmes. It was extremely interesting to see how different approaches (from collective to state-driven, from market-oriented to individual/spontaneous management) yielded different results.

One of the highlights - among many other unforgettable moments - was the evening tour in the Chinampas (the 'floating gardens') in the Xochimilco area, when all of a sudden a canoe appeared out of the night. INURAns also thoroughly enjoyed the pre-tour to pre-Hispanic Teotihuacán with expert guide Marlene.

Best of all, the retreat in an overwhelming location. Tepoztlan’s Casa Azul, a hidden jewel in a tropical vegetation at the foot of steep mountains (some of us dared to climb to the pyramid at the top) offered the perfect setting for good discussions. The soft-floored and cushion-rich meeting room, the chance for regenerating and rejuvenating breaks in the swimming pool, the terraces and gardens with exotic flowers, humming birds and dragonflies all came close to paradise. I think all of us would have loved to stay longer (not just to cure their severed stomachs), some forever. How lucky we were that you found this wonderful place for us!

Thanks again to all those who organized, helped, and guided, especially Mariana, Claudia, Frank, Laura, and most of all Beatriz, Ana and Xanath. And please extend our thanks to all extra guides and to those who translated, those who presented their projects, and all those who provided us with food, drinks and information. Jorge foremost!

Richard Wolff, INURA Zurich / Common Office

2011-11-18

Two Films by Tino Bucholz:

“Creativity and the Capitalist City: The struggle for affordable Space in Amsterdam”

In this film, the search for creativity is linked to existential struggles for affordable housing and working space in Amsterdam, such as temporary accommodation, squatting, anti-squatting and some institutional synthesis: "breeding places" Amsterdam.

"Gallery Schijnheilig and the Right to the City"

Video about the new urban (anti-squatting) regulations, upcoming eviction around and urban movements in Amsterdam. See this short portrait of "Gallery Schijnheilig and the Right to the City", which highlights the changing situation in Amsterdam and overall neoliberalization of Dutch urban policies.

Attacks against Freedom of Speech at University Leuven, Belgium

A critical researcher of the Catholic University Leuven, Belgium, Barbara Van Dyck, was dismissed because of her participation in and views on the Field Liberation Movement, which happened Sunday, May 29, in Brussels. The Field Liberation Movement was simply taking non-violent action against the use of GMO crops in Europe.

This is a direct bounce in the freedom of speech, aiming at making critical researchers scared and silence. I signed the petition and invite those who care for the freedom of speech to do the same. The link is below.

The petition against the dismissal of Barbara van Dyck counts already over 4000 signatures, including many academics from all over the World. The plan was that a delegation of professors, researchers, and sympathizers would hand over the petition to Mark Waer, Rector of the KULeuven on June 28th.
On Saturday however the rector advanced the possibility of reintegrating Barbara Van Dyck in a newspaper interview (De Standaard, June 25th). We are happy that the Rector has taken note of the widespread protests and that he is willing to reconsider his decision. To give this opening a chance, the action committee has decided to delay the protest march 'No berufsverbot for Barbara' (known in the press as the 'march of the angry toga's).
We are confident that she will be quickly reinstated. Let's not forget that as Barbara´s supervisors have recently stressed, the dismissal disrupts as well the scientific research projects in which she was involved. Until this goal is met we will continue the campaign.
Yet this campaign does not stop here! This case exposes a lingering discontent about the growing link between research and industrial interests, as well as the market logic that invades academia. In this sense it surpasses the individual case of Barbara van Dyck for it is about the future of science, ecological precaution, the privatization of the commons, academic freedom, free speech and about the precarious situation of young researchers.
Spread the word!

http://threerottenpotatoes.wordpress.com/

London Battersea Power Station- a tragi-comedy of errors...

RUHR-ISTANBUL FOTOPROJECT

Essen and Istanbul (and Pécs) are capitals of culture of Europe 2010. Therefore INURA Ruhr organizes a foto-competition of real + daily life challgenges for local people.

New book: Changing Contexts in Urban Regeneration

30 Years of Modernisation in Rotterdam.
by Paul Stouten

20th annual INURA conference successfully held in Zurich, Switzerland

More than 150 urban researchers and activists came together to discuss urban development of the last 20 years. Teams from 36 cities from 5 continents presented their posters about the situation in their city. An overwhelming comparison of similar and different patterns and processes was made. The work on this goes on. Keynote speeches were held by Ananya Roy (Global Metropolitan Studies Center, University of California, Berkeley), Christian Schmid, ETH Zürich / INURA Zürich), Sobhanlal Bonnerjee (Centre for the Built Environment, Kolkata), Wing Shing Tang (Baptist University, Hong Kong), Omar Urán Arenas (Instituto Popular de Capacitacion, Medellín), Zodwa Nsibande (Abahlali baseMjondolo, Durban). Several tours were guided through Zurich and its housing, planning, cooperative, culture issues. See also programme.

INURA Istanbul Workshop 2008 successfully held.

Entries for the Bauhaus Award 2008 may be submitted from 1st January to 31st March 2008: “Housing shortages” The minimum subsistence level housing of today

Arrest of urban researcher in Berlin - read more

City Institute at York University launched A new centre for urban research at York University is bringing together more than 40 faculty members who research city-related topics ranging from housing to immigration. The City Institute at York University will focus on everything urban; whether it is the areas "in-between" city cores and suburbs, or the social forces at work in cities around the globe. Researchers from eight faculties at York are already doing this type of collaborative, interdisciplinary research, says Roger Keil, an environmental studies professor who has been appointed as director of the institute. The growing interest in urban issues, both in the university and the community, convinced York to pull all of that expertise into an organized research unit
that will act as a catalyst for future projects. http://www.yorku.ca/city

READ: 1. Contribution about urban movements and participation (in italian) pdf 220kb

READ: 2. La rete internazionale per la ricerca e l'azione urbana (about INURA in Italian) pdf 112kb

UPDATES: Luton / Marsh Farm:

• Feasability report (pdf 72kb)
• Consultancy Report (pdf 672 kb)
• Strategic Urban Futures (pdf 80kb)

INURA Declaration: Now also in Italian – Dichiarazione INURA in Italiano