WeOwnTheCity is an exhibition and symposium being held in Hong Kong by The Faculty of Architecture of the University of Hong Kong, in collaboration with Amsterdam-based CITIES and ARCAM. WeOwnTheCity will showcase examples of community planning from both Amsterdam and Hong Kong, investigating emergent urban development and community planning initiatives in both cities. In the spirit of autonomy and self-determination, the WeOwnTheCity symposium on March 7th is open to the public: those who truly “own the city” by negotiating and interacting with it on a daily basis. The symposium anticipates positive and energetic discussions, debates and workshops that will facilitate the exchange of ideas between government officials, professionals and the general public on community planning and urbanism.
The Cycle of Japan is a new lecture series at the Academy of Architecture in Amsterdam, that focuses on what the Netherlands can learn from Japanese urban practice. Edwin Gardner will kick off the series with a talk on 14 February. In the last decades development in the Netherlands is often equated to a linear process of more buildings, more cities and more square meters per person. With the recent economic crisis, this expansion mechanism has come to an abrupt halt. Due to the economic crisis of the 90s and an aging population Japan has long been engaged in a cyclical construction where growth and shrinkage are not opposites and where progress is sought in change, metamorphosis and and small amount of available space for housing. The central question in this Capita Selecta lecture series is: what can we learn from the Japanese condition in the Netherlands?
