ROUNDTABLE : City, diversity and social inclusion: a myth or reality?
When: 24 February 2020, 11:00 - 12:30.
Where: Berlagezaal, Faculty of Architecture and Built Environment, Delft University of Technology.
Participation: free / public participation / registration is not required.
Theme:
In the last three decades, there has been an increasing policy and academic attention towards the promotion of intercultural dialogue and social inclusion within Western European cities, in the context of rising diversity in urban population and the neoliberal model of urban development processes. Built environment, particularly neighborhoods and their public spaces, have been a matter of attention in these debates. It is often assumed that these places are solutions to overcome the increasing social fragmentation in cities, as they are potentially able to promote social contacts and encounters between the different urban groups.
Despite the important policy efforts, the goals of intercultural dialogue and social inclusion still present a challenge for most Western European cities. Moreover, the evaluation of the urban development programmes to promote inclusive cities, and its implications for urban design and planning have been disregarded. This gap raises some fundamental issues in relation to the role of built environment in promoting socially inclusive cities. This roundtable addresses these issues with examples from Europe, with the participation of distinguished speakers from the United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands.
Moderator
Ceren Sezer / RWTH Aachen University
Speakers
Sophie Watson / Prof. of Sociology, Head of Department of Sociology, Open University, UK.
Christa Reicher / Prof. of Urban Design, Head of Institute for Urban Design and European Urbanism, RWTH Aachen University, Germany.
Marja Elsinga / Prof. of Housing Institutions and Governance, Department of Management in the Built Environment, TU Delft.
Ali Madanipour / Prof. of Urban Design, Newcastle University, UK.
Jan Rath / Professor of Urban Sociology, Head of the Department of Sociology, University of Amsterdam.
Reinout Kleinhans/ Assoc. Prof. Urban regeneration, Department of Urbanism, TU Delft.
