European Journal of Creative Practices in Cities and Landscapes: Announcements

EDIT:NEW DATES CPCL Vol 7 no 1 Call for Papers. Mapping beyond the monodisciplinary approach: Exploring the potential of mapping in comparative research methods.

2024-01-15T09:08:15+01:00

Call for papers. Download this call in PDF.

The European Journal of Creative Practices in Cities and Landscapes, Vol 7, no 1 (2024).
https://cpcl.unibo.it | cpcl@unibo.it

Humanity is facing a wide range of transitions (e.g. climate crisis, energy transition, migration, digitalisation) that are playing out at different scales. Urban landscapes, as well as rural and uninhabited environments, are affected by similar or mutually reinforcing challenges in relation to sustainability. In some spatial areas, these global challenges are cumulative: think of mining regions or other areas where the global demand for rare metals originates, capital cities or urban regions where policy and decision makers congregate, cross-border regions on the fringes of national states, or port city territories or other areas on the intersection between land and water. The scale and urgency of these challenges require innovative and interdisciplinary approaches that take into account the social, economic, environmental and political dimensions of cities and landscapes. Critical mapping approaches can help by providing a means to visualise, analyse and communicate complex information about (urban) landscapes in transformation.

The academic literature recognises the role of mapping approaches in facilitating the communication and visualisation of complex information and in clarifying inter-spatial flows and relationships (e.g. Clarke & Stillwell, 2004; Wood, 2010; Bodenhamer, Corrigan & Harris, 2010; Monmonier, 2010; Gregory & Geddes, 2014; Edney, 2019). Increasingly, academics, planners and policy makers are integrating maps and mapping into their research and design, using different sources and techniques (Hein & Van Mil, 2019). However, the work of, especially scholars, is often focused on select temporal, spatial and disciplinary perspectives, or specific case studies, confined to national contexts, selected languages or disciplinary approaches (Hein & Van Mil, 2019). To address today’s challenges and the complex socio-ecological systems in which they operate and interact, we need mapping methods that can move between different scales, across different geographies, and combine multiple disciplines - methods that respond to the fluid nature of territories rather than methods based on fixed, local scales and singular disciplines. To meet the urgency of the times in our state of crisis, such mapping approaches/methods need to go beyond the monodisciplinary case study approach.

The aim of this issue is to collect original research articles that provide theoretical as well as practical insights into how we can use mapping methods to better understand and address complex spatial challenges, produce more generalisable findings and establish causal relationships between spatial, socio-cultural and environmental data.
Contributions should link and illustrate mapping approaches with case studies (e.g. port city territories, mining regions, etc.) and clarify how the methodology/approach can be used for comparative research and how it can be applied across scales, disciplines or time periods. With this call, we encourage transdisciplinary contributions involving mapping- based research methods that can contribute to a better understanding of contemporary sustainability challenges and their spatial implications.

In particular, we invite contributions on:

Mapping methods that reveal complex spatial patterns through research at multiple scales, across multiple disciplines or even over time.
Multidisciplinary, large-scale, comparable mapping approaches that contribute to the way we understand and address complex urban and landscape challenges.
Data-driven research approaches related to open-access interactive geospatial applications/platforms.
Difficulties with or limitations of existing complex transdisciplinary methods of comparative mapping, as well as critical observations.

Vol 7, no 1 timeline

-        Jun 2023. Launch of Call
-   29 February 2024. Deadline for paper submission
-   Mar 2024. Peer-review process
- Apr-May 2024. Copy editing and proofreading
-        Jun 2024. Publication

CPCL accepts full papers, written in English, 6,000 words maximum, including footnotes and bibliography. Manuscripts should be submitted online at cpcl.unibo.it. CPCL does not accept e-mail submissions.

For more information, consult our focus and scope and author guidelines.

EDIT:NEW DATESCPCL Vol 6 no 2 Call for Papers "Public Art, Urban Arts: Aesthetics, Practices and Languages in the City"

2023-07-03T07:32:31+02:00

Call for papers. Download this call in PDF.

The European Journal of Creative Practices in Cities and Landscapes, Vol 6, no 2 (2023).
https://cpcl.unibo.it | cpcl@unibo.it

Edited by Alice Borchi, Filippo Fimiani, Enrico Chinellato, Francesca Sabatini.

Art is a grammar of urban space. As tangible or intangible products of human action imbued with symbolic and aesthetic value, ‘works of art’ proliferate on the streets and squares of cities, partaking in expressing relations, catalysing social life, embodying power, and entailing conflict. By being either an integration to, or an intervention in the urban space, art has assumed over time a variety of context-specific forms and languages, diversely responding to the expressive patterns of local cultures and political formations. As a result, it is necessary to examine the relation between different manifestations of the ‘arts’ and their use in either asserting or contesting power. Indeed, many artistic interventions in urban public spaces have been enacted to articulate ideologies, achieve consensus, enforce political agendas, or memorialise and celebrate people and events - sometimes in the guise of community - and public-centred endeavours.

Urban spaces and their transformations, as well as the very notions of ‘public’ and collective memory, have grown into increasingly critical, complex, and fragmented subjectivities. At the same time, we observe a significant proliferation of artistic practices situated in the contested terrain of social struggles and urban futures, often in the form of ephemeral agencies by performative artefacts (e.g., installations, performances, murals, graffiti, sculptures, and many others). This momentous surge of culturally diverse and politically conflicting artistic expressions is centred on pressing contemporary matters. Critical events such as the COVID-19 pandemic have shifted the relationships among humans, and between humans and the environment, whether built, natural, or digital. While new artistic experiences have been conceived for technological mediums, the mediation of human interactions through digital devices and the twinning of reality with its virtual avatars (such as AR and VR) have opened new challenging spaces of sociopolitical debate through the digitalization and dematerialization of the city, as well as its aestheticization. Besides, globalised communication, new media, migrations, and the escalation of human mobility, among many other factors, have multiplied cultural identities in the city, making up a fertile ground for the development of a plurality of artistic languages that either dialogue or clash with each other. Moreover, the aftermath of colonialism has raised critical issues of representation which claim a resignification of the city’s contested entities, such as monuments and memorials, aimed at rewriting dominant narratives and reappropriating spaces of belonging through aesthetic enactments.
By acting across the cultural and political guerrilla for the control and ownership of shared spaces, these practices participate in the engendering of counter-institutional narratives, transforming the urban landscape into a political palimpsest where institutionalised displays of art, artification, and aestheticization are challenged by radical interventions that leverage on social engagement and collective mobilisation.

This issue of the European Journal of Creative Practices in Cities and Landscapes explores the manifold intersections between art and urban space as partaking in contemporary urban transformations and social struggles, while intertwining matters of representation and identity, ownership, relations of production, and modes of reception.
This Call for Papers welcomes cross-disciplinary contributions of both researchers and practitioners on (but not limited to) the following topics:

The practices of artification, and the implications of art in urban space as ‘object’ (artwork, ‘work’ as a noun) vis-à-vis art in urban space as ‘process’ (the work of art, ‘work’ as a verb); ephemeral urban art as heritage.
The convergences and frictions of the aesthetic dimension in the political and the political action in urban art; art as expression of power relations in urban space.
Art, the practices of inclusion, exclusion and recognition in urban space; issues of representation and identity; urban art as a form of both social criticism and empowerment, or ‘art in the public interest’: which ‘public(s)’? Who participates, and how?
Art, gender and hierarchical spaces in the city: novel forms and styles of gendered, queer and feminist narratives and self-expressions.
The relation between art and collective memory, as forms of memory-work confronting urban remembrance and loss; recent artistic practices for the re-semantization of contested monuments and memorials.
Commissioned, un-commissioned, or unauthorised art in urban space; on art as a mean of transforming, developing, or regenerating urban space
The circulation, communication, and re-mediation of works of art across the urban space and the digital public space through new media and social media; new modes of artistic production and consumption through mobile devices; the implications of AR and VR as intersections, replicas, and extensions of the urban space; the algorithm and the art of surveillance.
The intersections between art, urban space, and the body; somatic, experiential, and performative art practices in urban space.

Vol 6, no 2 timeline

- Mar 2023. Launch of Call
- 30 Jly 2023. Extended deadline for paper submission
- Jul-Aug 2023. Peer-review process
- Sep-Oct 2023. Copy editing and proofreading
- Dec 2023. Publication

For more information, consult our focus and scope and author guidelines.

CPCL Vol 7 no 1 Call for Papers. Mapping beyond the monodisciplinary approach: Exploring the potential of mapping in comparative research methods

2023-06-05T10:23:58+02:00

Call for papers. Download this call in PDF.

The European Journal of Creative Practices in Cities and Landscapes, Vol 7, no 1 (2024).
https://cpcl.unibo.it | cpcl@unibo.it

Mapping methods that reveal complex spatial patterns through research at multiple scales, across multiple disciplines or even over time.
Multidisciplinary, large-scale, comparable mapping approaches that contribute to the way we understand and address complex urban and landscape challenges.
Data-driven research approaches related to open-access interactive geospatial applications/platforms.
Difficulties with or limitations of existing complex transdisciplinary methods of comparative mapping, as well as critical observations.

Vol 7, no 1 timeline

-        Jun 2023. Launch of Call
-   30 Dec 2023. Deadline for paper submission
-   Jan-Mar 2024. Peer-review process
- Apr-May 2024. Copy editing and proofreading
-        Jun 2024. Publication

For more information, consult our focus and scope and author guidelines.

CPCL Vol 6 no 2 Call for Papers "Public Art, Urban Arts: Aesthetics, Practices and Languages in the City"

2023-03-14T12:27:00+01:00

Call for papers. Download this call in PDF.

The European Journal of Creative Practices in Cities and Landscapes, Vol 6, no 2 (2023). https://cpcl.unibo.it | cpcl@unibo.it

Edited by Alice Borchi, Filippo Fimiani, Enrico Chinellato, Francesca Sabatini.

Art is a grammar of urban space. As tangible or intangible products of human action imbued with symbolic and aesthetic value, ‘works of art’ proliferate on the streets and squares of cities, partaking in expressing relations, catalysing social life, embodying power, and entailing conflict. By being either an integration to, or an intervention in the urban space, art has assumed over time a variety of context-specific forms and languages, diversely responding to the expressive patterns of local cultures and political formations. As a result, it is necessary to examine the relation between different manifestations of the ‘arts’ and their use in either asserting or contesting power. Indeed, many artistic interventions in urban public spaces have been enacted to articulate ideologies, achieve consensus, enforce political agendas, or memorialise and celebrate people and events - sometimes in the guise of community - and public-centred endeavours.Urban spaces and their transformations, as well as the very notions of ‘public’ and collective memory, have grown into increasingly critical, complex, and fragmented subjectivities. At the same time, we observe a significant proliferation of artistic practices situated in the contested terrain of social struggles and urban futures, often in the form of ephemeral agencies by performative artefacts (e.g., installations, performances, murals, graffiti, sculptures, and many others). This momentous surge of culturally diverse and politically conflicting artistic expressions is centred on pressing contemporary matters. Critical events such as the COVID-19 pandemic have shifted the relationships among humans, and between humans and the environment, whether built, natural, or digital. While new artistic experiences have been conceived for technological mediums, the mediation of human interactions through digital devices and the twinning of reality with its virtual avatars (such as AR and VR) have opened new challenging spaces of sociopolitical debate through the digitalization and dematerialization of the city, as well as its aestheticization. Besides, globalised communication, new media, migrations, and the escalation of human mobility, among many other factors, have multiplied cultural identities in the city, making up a fertile ground for the development of a plurality of artistic languages that either dialogue or clash with each other. Moreover, the aftermath of colonialism has raised critical issues of representation which claim a resignification of the city’s contested entities, such as monuments and memorials, aimed at rewriting dominant narratives and reappropriating spaces of belonging through aesthetic enactments.By acting across the cultural and political guerrilla for the control and ownership of shared spaces, these practices participate in the engendering of counter-institutional narratives, transforming the urban landscape into a political palimpsest where institutionalised displays of art, artification, and aestheticization are challenged by radical interventions that leverage on social engagement and collective mobilisation.This issue of the European Journal of Creative Practices in Cities and Landscapes explores the manifold intersections between art and urban space as partaking in contemporary urban transformations and social struggles, while intertwining matters of representation and identity, ownership, relations of production, and modes of reception.This Call for Papers welcomes cross-disciplinary contributions of both researchers and practitioners on (but not limited to) the following topics:

The practices of artification, and the implications of art in urban space as ‘object’ (artwork, ‘work’ as a noun) vis-à-vis art in urban space as ‘process’ (the work of art, ‘work’ as a verb); ephemeral urban art as heritage.
The convergences and frictions of the aesthetic dimension in the political and the political action in urban art; art as expression of power relations in urban space.
Art, the practices of inclusion, exclusion and recognition in urban space; issues of representation and identity; urban art as a form of both social criticism and empowerment, or ‘art in the public interest’: which ‘public(s)’? Who participates, and how?
Art, gender and hierarchical spaces in the city: novel forms and styles of gendered, queer and feminist narratives and self-expressions.
The relation between art and collective memory, as forms of memory-work confronting urban remembrance and loss; recent artistic practices for the re-semantization of contested monuments and memorials.
Commissioned, un-commissioned, or unauthorised art in urban space; on art as a mean of transforming, developing, or regenerating urban space
The circulation, communication, and re-mediation of works of art across the urban space and the digital public space through new media and social media; new modes of artistic production and consumption through mobile devices; the implications of AR and VR as intersections, replicas, and extensions of the urban space; the algorithm and the art of surveillance.
The intersections between art, urban space, and the body; somatic, experiential, and performative art practices in urban space.

Vol 6, no 2 timeline

- Mar 2023. Launch of Call- 30 Jun 2023. Deadline for paper submission- Jul-Aug 2023. Peer-review process- Sep-Oct 2023. Copy editing and proofreading- Dec 2023. Publication

For more information, consult our focus and scope and author guidelines.

CPCL Vol 6, no 1. Call for Papers. Mediterranean Imaginaries

2023-01-10T10:28:23+01:00

The European Journal of Creative Practices in Cities and Landscapes, Vol 6, no 1.

Edited by Paolo De Martino, John Hanna, Carola Hein.

Download this call in PDF.

Writers, scholars and politicians have historically recognized ‘the Mediterranean’ as a unique space and the cradle of multiple ancient civilizations. This liquid space –roughly defined by the sea and its coasts– has been continuously reimagined, redefined, negotiated, and challenged, sometimes to validate political ends, other times to contest mainstream geographical imaginaries. In resonance with the disciplinary and theoretical developments of mid-20^thcentury, the historian Fernand Braudel famously placed the Mediterranean at the center of his analysis and his temporal exploration. His spatial understanding of the temporal concept of the long-durée, has influenced historical and geographical approaches over several decades. During this time, the Mediterranean Sea and its surroundings has also changed, both in terms of geography and imaginaries.This special issue inquires: How can a reconceptualization of the Mediterranean from a sea-based perspective be generative of new theoretical and methodological approaches? What creative methods and tools could be useful for understanding, rethinking and reimagining the Mediterranean Sea, its islands, and its surrounding coasts in light of the increasing challenges of climate change, energy transition, supply chains, migration and mobility? Scholars have called for a reconceptualization of cities, of sea and land, notably through proposing concepts such as planetary urbanization or urbanization of the sea. With its 46000 kms of coastline and 450 million inhabitants, the Mediterranean Sea is a water basin shared by 24 countries that is currently facing numerous environmental, social and political challenges. Those challenges call for a rethinking of the sea space and the coastal regions of the Mediterranean as a space where many uses, flows and infrastructures can co-exist: from mobility, tourism, recreational uses and enjoyment of heritage, to logistics, data, and new energy infrastructures. It calls for a rethinking of water and land as porous spaces that require adaptive and resilient strategies. This special issue builds upon the two special issues of CPCL 2020 on Port City Cultures, Values, or Maritime Mindsets to extend the discussion with a focus on the Mediterranean Sea and its surrounding regions. The aim of this special issue is therefore to reexamine the Mediterranean from the seaside, focusing on diverse methodologies (such as archival, mapping/counter-mapping, visual tools, storytelling) while also inviting reflections on design proposals for new porous development and adaptive strategies.We specifically invite contributions on six intersecting themes:

Environment and climate resilience. The short- and long-term impacts of climate change on Mediterranean coastal areas and port cities are particularly urgent. New methodological and adaptive design approaches are needed. We invite papers that explore the opportunities and challenges of living with water in the Mediterranean looking at the past, present and future.
Infrastructures and flows. Different systems of infrastructure regulate the flows of goods and people around the Mediterranean, its coasts and hinterlands. They have multiple spatial and social implications. We invite papers to look critically at the history of these infrastructural regimes and/or propose new methods for land-sea integrated planning.
Digital History and heritage. Digital tools can play a role in documenting and (re)defining Mediterranean architectural and cultural heritage. We invite papers that address the role of digital history and explore its contribution to the creation and dissemination of new maritime mindsets and imaginaries.
Pedagogy. Pedagogical practices can promote critical (re)considerations of the Mediterranean in relation both to colonial histories and contemporary urgencies. We invite papers that present innovative modalities for understanding and (re)thinking Mediterranean connections as well as (re)designing its port cities and sea-spaces.
Temporalities and porosities. Various temporal rhythms have shaped the experiences and perceptions of spaces in and around the Mediterranean. We invite papers that explore the multiplicity of these temporalities and their relevance for addressing existing challenges. We also invite papers that reflect on the ways in which different time periods have explored the theme of porosity.
Integrated Governance. Various legal and governing regimes have shaped planning in Mediterranean port cities and regions. We invite papers that examine the multi-scalar governance of port city territories in their national and international context over time, providing a foundation for recognizing path dependencies and opening up space for the development of new governance structures.

Vol 6, no 1 timeline

- Jan 2023. Launch of Call- 30 Apr 2023. Deadline for paper submission- May-Jun 2023. Peer-review process- July-Aug 2023. Copy editing and proofreading- Sep 2023. Publication

For more information, consult our focus and scope and author guidelines.

CPCL Vol 5, no 1. Call for Papers. Aesthetics of the Anthropocene

2022-01-12T10:38:17+01:00

The European Journal of Creative Practices in Cities and Landscapes, Vol 5, no 1.

Edited by Pierpaolo Ascari, Andrea Borsari.

Download a PDF version of this call.

Since the beginning of the new millennium, the notion of Anthropocene has progressively asserted itself in literature and in public discussion, changing the way in which the past, the present condition and the future scenarios of the planet are represented. In the attempt to attribute a beginning to the geological protagonism of human beings, the scientific community has referred from time to time to the explosion of the atomic bomb, to the industrial revolution or to the "long sixteenth century", without excluding the possibility that the origins of the Anthropocene can be traced back to the time when men began to master fire. However, what is difficult to question today is the prevailing role assumed by human action, since the birth of industrial capitalism and the system of life related to it (for which we also tend to speak of Capitalocene), on the reproduction of the life cycle on earth and, through the use of fossil fuels, on the climate of the planet.The relationship between aesthetics and the so-called Anthropocene does not only concern the last twenty years, but can also refer to the way in which philosophical reflection, literature, social formations and art history have engaged a series of problems. Only today do we start to understand the complexity of this problems in their systemic scope.This Call for Paper has a number of objectives. It aims (1) to investigate the ways in which the Anthropocene is interpreted by current artistic productions or film, television and variously narrative and performative representations. It seeks (2) to understand the latencies or prefigurations of the Anthropocene in past forms of knowledge and expression. It invites reflection on (3) how to actualize the conceptual and metaphorical heritage elaborated by the philosophical-aesthetic tradition in the course of its history, beyond the simple reference to the "sublime". As well as on how to integrate or modify that heritage for the rendering of the perceptive-sensitive relationship with the new reality of the world that is configured today. The Call for Paper also poses additional research questions, such as: (4) How is the Anthropocene manifested and perceived in everyday information on climate change related disasters and their increase (typhoons, desertification, burning forests)? (5) What do the simulations of future scenarios that we make in correspondence with the debate on the climate crisis and the Anthropocene tell us about ourselves as humankind through self-representation images and their implications?Finally (6), the Call for Paper aims to address a range of new phenomena related to the architectural-urban sphere. They can be analyzed from the point of view of the aesthetic-perceptual consequences of the Anthropocene and of the pandemic emergency partly related to it, even with reference to local examples. These phenomena include, for instance, the transformations of the urban landscape and their perception, in the wake of the clamor aroused by the return to the city of the so-called "nature that takes back its spaces". As it happens with news like wild boars in Rome and Genoa, ducklings in the center of Turin or pumas in Santiago de Chile. And they also may include the spread of electric scooters and the considerable increase in bicycle travel, especially in countries and cities where it was less practiced. Other examples for this kind of analysis can be provided by some of the changes in the built environment, such as buildings covered by thermal coats or the unprecedented number of construction sites and scaffolding. In this context, articles could also explore a further transformation of the city concerning the tendency of the public space, mostly in central and historical areas, to be subjected to private commercial use. This loss of free space transforms entire portions of streets, squares and arcades into a landscape of outdoor seating and table service.The contributions requested should refer to one or more of the six thematic points and approaches mentioned above. Vol 5, no 1 timeline

- Jan 2022. Launch of Call- Mar 2022. Deadline for paper submission- April-May 2022. Peer-review process- Jun-Aug 2022. Copy editing and proofreading- Sep 2022. Publication

For more information, consult our focus and scope and author guidelines.

CPCL Vol 4, no 1. Call for Papers. Port City Cultures, Values, or Maritime Mindsets: How to define and assess what makes port cities special

2020-06-22T00:00:00+02:00

The European Journal of Creative Practices in Cities and Landscapes, Vol 4, no 1.

Edited by Carola Hein, Sabine Luning, Paul van de Laar

Download a PDF version of this call.

Many scholars agree that port cities are a particular type of cities. They point to their location at the border of land and sea, their global connections, their particular port related infrastructure, or their often cosmopolitan lifestyles. Yet, there is no clear understanding whether these port-cities also have a particular port city culture, how to define it, how to measure it or even how to attach names to it. Multiple words exist to identify this particular state of port city culture in different disciplines. The maritime archaeologist Christer Westerdahl introduced the notion of “maritime cultural landscape” (Westerdahl 1992). The historians Jerry Bentley, Renate Bridenthal, and Kären Wigen have coined the term seascapes (2007). The planning historian Carola Hein has proposed the concept of port cityscapes, arguing that the reach of the port into its neighboring city and region merits comprehensive investigation (2011; 2016). Other planners and landscape architects have explored issues of design, water, and heritage: the work on hydrobiographies stands as an example (maybe) (J.W. Bosch, C. Soree 2016). Beatrice Moretti employs the notion of “portuality” (Moretti 2019).

The study of port city culture(s) or values invites researchers to reconceptualize concepts such as ‘culture’. Historically, culture has been associated with bounded communities and systems of thought. Social scientists have started to conceptualize the particular character and the selflogic of cities (Löw 2016), offering new approaches.

Port cities provide a particularly challenging terrain for innovative approaches. As (scalar) localized hubs defined by their global connections, heterogeneous networks with shared interests in branding port-cities’ distinctiveness (Warsewa 2011), and superdiversity (van de Laar and van der Schoor 2019), port cities prompt questions concerning sense of community, tensions between processes of closure and opening up, as well as multiple value orientations and value realizations (Geschiere 2009; Tsing 2011; Graeber 2013). And, given the spatial and infrastructural characteristics of port cities, scholars opt to stretch the concept of ‘infrastructure’ to include social, regulatory and technological features and analyse their interrelations (Larkin 2013).

These diverse terms reflect particular approaches and have yet to be put into conversation and developed for use in future planning. Port city actors have declared that culture is a key theme in for their work (AIVP Agenda 2030, https://www.aivpagen- da2030.com/). Many politicians and practitioners agree that to (re)anchor the port in its larger physical context, the port needs to engage again with local social and regional practices. There is a clear need not only to measure the economic or infrastructural impact of the port, but also its presence in the societal and cultural context of its larger region, including from the perspective of identities. Such engagement is important both to train the port workers of the future (human capital) and to engage with the business community as well as professional actors, but also to interact with the population at large and to create a maritime mindset, where the creativity of the larger population engages with maritime practices, and contributes to long-term port city resilience. Beyond short-term marketing efforts, what is needed is long-term engagement with local publics through education, spatial integration, social investment, cultural engagement and questions about how lifestyles and culture can contribute to (re)building shared values of port, city and region.

To contribute both to historical and contemporary analysis and future design and planning this special issue invites contributions that conceptualize the particular state of port cities, propose methodologies to better understand them, and discuss concrete case studies that highlight both the historic dimension of port city culture and the contemporary importance. It also invites authors to provide insight into the scales and temporalities of the discussion on port city cultures. Contributions can address a wide range of topics from architecture and planning, to port city music, literature, or games.

Contributions will combine conceptual analysis with concrete case studies. They will explore (but will not be limited to) the following topics.

Terms and Concepts

How can we capture the particular characteristics of port cities focusing on their spatial, social and cultural particularities? What terms can we use to describe the palimpsest of space, society and practices in port cities? Which disciplinary approaches and concepts can be used to conceptualize them?

Theories and Methodologies

What are the theories and methodologies that can be used to understand the particular interactions of sea and land, of global and local, of space, society and culture in port cities? How can novel approaches help us redevelop the sealand continuum in general and port cities in particular?

Path dependencies and resilience

Do institutions in port cities follow particular development paths that make the port city as a system more resilient? Are there examples of historical transitions that can help us prepare for and address contemporary transition challenges (energy, data, migration)? The port function stays even as institutions evolve, raising the question: How have maritime spaces and practices supported port city development?

Port city culture for economic development

Economic development has long used port city culture for branding, but also more profoundly, to build bridges among diverse port city actors. What are the traditional intersections between economy and culture? What are potential links between business culture and port city culture, notably through localizing the global? How can a maritime awareness increase economic opportunities for businesses and the general public?

Port city heritage

Historic buildings and spaces, but also films, literature or paintings can make important contributions to the development of port city culture. What structures do we need to consider? How can we assess their impact through quantitative and qualitative measures?

Vol 4, no 1 timeline

- June 2020. Launch of Call

- 31 Dec 2020. Deadline for paper submission

- Jan-Mar 2021. Peer-review process

- April-May 2021. Copy editing and proofreading

- June 2021. Publication

For more information, consult our focus and scope and author guidelines.

EDIT:NEW DATESCPCL Vol 3, no 2. Call for Papers. Design for people’s autonomy. Rights to independent living.

2020-02-11T00:00:00+01:00

Dear all,

the present message is to announce the EXTENDED DEADLINE for the Call for Paper titled Design for people’s autonomy. Rights to independent living. for next “CPCL Vol 3, no 2". In light of the current coronavirus emergency, the Scientific Editors and Organizing Committee have decided to postpone the deadline of the Call for Papers to April 30th 2020.

The European Journal of Creative Practices in Cities and Landscapes, vol 3, no 2.

Edited by Valentina Gianfrate, Micaela Antonucci, Francesc Aragall.

Download this call in PDF format.

The 2006 United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, puts in evidence that "an Accessible City is a city able of producing a public programme, services and spaces usable by all kind of people" in the broadest sense possible without the need for adaptation or specialized modifications, without excluding, in some cases, assistance tools for particular groups of people with disabilities where necessary. The contribute of light, material and immaterial infrastructures, enabling technologies and new services, helps the definition of a barrier-free built environment suitable for satisfying the citizen's well-being in an equitable manner.

A progressive and radical change at cultural strategic level has been registered during the last years about accessibility; this paradigm change ultimately implies that accessibility involves all the fields (culture, environmental and urban planning, mobility, health and wellness, research and development, education, etc.) and all levels (local, regional, national, European, global) to achieve an effective widespread.

The European Council from 2007 assumes a more inclusive definition dealing with public space fruition for disabled people ensuring autonomy and social integration, extending at the same time the concept of disability to some categories such as elderly (usually affected by degenerative pathologies), temporary injured person (affected by some limitations compared to their usual status), pregnant women (but also parents with buggy), socially excluded or vulnerable people (those living in extreme poverty or discriminated due to their disabilities)

This enlarged definition of “universal accessibility” implies the adoption of an integrated design approach involving the public realm of the city avoiding a use strictly linked with population groups while supporting a more inclusive mixed-use strategy.

The World Bank and the World Health Organization estimate that a billion disabled people in the world face some barriers in the inclusion in many vital sectors, such as mobility, job, education, etc, or simply in being socially or politically involved during their everyday life. However, the right to actively participate in the public life and reduce disparities are core elements of a stable democracy. Accessibility is intended as empowerment, meaning the individual and collective awareness of the right to access goods or services within one’s own community.

This issue of the European Journal of Creative Practices in Cities and Landscapes explores the concept of accessibility as a design tool, capable of translating individual and collective instances, needs and topics into design elements for new services, products, use of the spaces. An approach that goes beyond the logic of a simple cause-and-effect sequence to take into account the complexity, leaving precise metrics to accept a development by successive approximations placing the user (the citizen) at the core of social life and public realm definition.

Contributions are welcome on (but not limited to) the following topics:

Design to strengthen the access to human and spatial rights: which role may have the design practices in the improvement of accessibility and autonomy of people? In which way the design of new policies, tools and relations could improve the city accessibility experiences of people, creating at the same time collective values? How to measure socio-economic impacts deriving from design for people autonomy? How supporting disabled people to live an independent life? How to highlight the spatial dimension of human rights and democracy?

Technologies to increase autonomy: Which enabling technologies could democratize the right of the city and its space also for vulnerable groups of people? In which way is possible, through innovative and transferable solutions and ICT-enabled elements, to ensure a large scale access to city services?

Disabled-friendly and age-friendly cities and districts: Which are the most promising experiences and practices from worldwide cities in prototyping and customizing solutions, spatial and service elements to create navigable environments for collective or individual activities?

Open Innovation and Accessibility: How to improve the accessibility and autonomy of people in sharing knowledge, data and cultural contents? How to promote inclusive and responsible innovation? How to adopt inclusive communication and languages for all?

The call will be linked to the Design for people autonomy Research Workshop in Bologna: a day-long workshop about Accessibility and Cultural Heritage in collaboration with ROCK project and Bologna Accessible City Award candidature

Vol 3, no 2 timeline

February 2020. Launch of CFP
~~23 March 2020~~ tba Design for people autonomy Research Workshop in Bologna: a day-long workshop about Accessibility and Cultural Heritage in collaboration with ROCK project and Bologna Accessible City Award candidature
~~26 March 2020~~ 30 April Deadline for paper submission
~~2 May 2020~~ 05 June Notification of acceptance
~~May-June 2020~~ June-July 2020 Peer-review process
July-August 2020. Copy editing and proofreading
September 2020. Publication

CPCL Vol 3, no 1. Call for Papers. Curating the city: artistic practices and urban transformations

2019-06-25T00:00:00+02:00

The European Journal of Creative Practices in Cities and Landscapes, vol 3, no 1.

Edited by Annalisa Trentin, Anna Rosellini, Amir Djalali

Download a PDF version of this call.

Since the end of the 1970s, exhibitions, museums and artistic events have gained a central role in shaping the transformation of the city. Art, culture and knowledge have become the instruments through which cities have faced the crisis of industrial economy and the rise of new paradigms and values of urban development.

Art has a demonstrated impact in urban regeneration processes. While the presence of artists has been linked to the rise of the financial attractiveness of neighbourhoods, private and public museum institutions are leading actors in urban development, reclaiming former industrial sites and boosting land value in low-income neighbourhoods. At the same time, Biennials, Triennials, summer festivals, concerts and cultural events are seen by city administrators and planners as opportunities to promote investments in the city, attract capitals and visitors, and improving the image of the city.

Cultural events and initiatives are not only instruments in the hands of urban planners, but they are changing the way in which the city is planned and designed. Curatorial practices seem to have become the new paradigm for all the other disciplines traditionally involved in the transformation, design and construction of the city. Architecture and urban planning are more and more becoming curatorial activities, borrowing their methods from artistic and museum practices.

Urban planning is no longer made by systematic decisions and long-term strategies that take in consideration the entire city and its territory, but through occasional interventions in specific areas. Design is more and more the act of selecting, organizing and integrating existing elements, resources and ideas in temporary assemblages, avoiding the definition of a clear political programme for the future. At the same time, the communication of urban transformations becomes often more important than the transformation itself. Moreover, art and culture are powerful tools to mobilise local inhabitant’s consensus over complex and controversial projects of urban transformation, capturing existing local values and relations.

This condition opens up various possibilities in the hand of artists, curators, city administrators and inhabitants. On the one hand, curation becomes the instrument through which planning and architecture can make themselves flexible services for urban financial capitals in the midst of global economic, social and environmental uncertainty. On the other hand, curation can become an open instrument for cities to decide upon their future, according to the original meaning of the word, a way to care for the city and its inhabitants. Most of the times, however, the two aspects go hand-in-hand: artistic practices seem to be able to keep together desires for social justice with economic exploitation, democratic autonomy with financial determinism.

This issue of the European Journal of Creative Practices in Cities and Landscapes explores the role of artistic and curatorial practices in the contemporary forms of city making, as well as the drive towards curation of architecture and city planning. Contributions are welcome on (but not limited to) the following topics

Histories of urban events. An archaeology of Biennales, Triennales and international exhibitions, and the way they shaped the development of cities and territories.

Curating in a changing world. How are curatorial practices changing to adapt to current environmental, social and economic challenges? Are planning and architectural design becoming curatorial practices? Conversely, how can the art of curating learn from architecture and urban design?

Artists and the city. How are artists called to operate in urban transformations? What is the status of site-specific art? How are artists involved in community building? How does the “the artistic mode of production” drive urban change?

The economy of the event and its discontents. Accounts and chronicles from urban events and artistic initiatives. What kind of economy do they generate? What is their impact on the city? Are there forms of resistance and counter-practices?

Curating as caring. How can curating become an open, democratic practice? Curating as a politics of care.

Vol 3, no 1 timeline

25 June 2019. Launch of CFP
12 Dec 2019. Curating the city symposium in Bologna
15 Dec 2019. Deadline for paper submission
Jan 2020. Notification of acceptance
Jan-March 2020. Peer-review process
April-May 2020. Copy editing and proofreading
June 2020. Publication

For more information, consult our focus and scope and author guidelines.

Erratum

2019-03-01T00:00:00+01:00

Esra Akcan, Vando Borghi, Amir Djalali, "The Open Architecture To Come: an Interview with Esra Akcan," The European Journal of Creative Practices in Cities and Landscapes 1, no. 1 (2018), https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.2612-0496/8862.

When the above article was first published online on January 31st, 2018, the title contained a spelling error and the word "interview" was spelled "intervew". This has been now corrected in the online version of the article.

CPCL's editorial team apologizes for this error.

Bologna, March 1st, 2019.

Vol 2, no 2. Call for Papers. The new Spaces of the Common: Spatial and Political Models of “Making”

2019-01-21T12:48:22+01:00

CPCL Vol 2, no 2. The new spaces of the common. Spatial and political models of “making”

Edited by Manola Antonioli, Abir Belaïd and Simon Bertrand

Today we are witnessing (in the fields of architecture and design, but also in the context of emergence and spread of a social and solidarity economy) a renewed interest in “making” and a revival of the tradition of Do It Yourself (DIY), which concerns as much the professionals of culture than the representatives of civil society. Thus we rediscover craftsmanship, but in the current context characterized by the power of new digital tools (many observers can thus speak of a new “digital” or “industrial” craftsmanship).

“Third places” therefore appear (especially in urban areas) that try to create intermediate spaces between the private domain and the public domain, relational spaces where the meetings that occur have a greater importance than the things produced, places whose identity is built around links, so that “making” again becomes a way of acting in common.

This issue of CPLC aims to construct a typology of these places and their functions in contemporary spaces.

Contributions are asked to explore the following topics:

A mapping of the “third places”. It is very difficult to propose a mapping and a typology of these new places because they appear, are transformed and disappear at high speed and because they associate physical places and virtual spaces. What are the common points, but also the differences and the specificities, of places as diverse as cafés, business incubators, manufacturing spaces, spaces for meetings or work, which nevertheless still fall under the very vague label of “third places”?

New places and policies of “making”. In 1958, in her book The Human Condition, Hannah Arendt explored the opposition between “making” and “acting” as two different forms of the vita activa, opposition established on the division between public and private spaces. Labor encloses the worker in the private space of its activity and excludes him or her from the common, while action (especially in its political form) produces a shared space and establishes the network of human relations. How can “third places” contribute to redefining these traditional boundaries between “making” and “acting”, between labor, work and action (recalling Arendt’s three fundamental categories)?

“Third places,” cities and territories. “Third places” often occupy out-of-use buildings, abandoned sites, spaces in transition, “hollow teeth” or urban interstices. Very present in cities, they are also beginning to appear in rural territories. They implicitly or explicitly oppose urban planning, programming and regulations of cities and territories to claim another shape of intelligence of places, a collective intelligence that includes the unfinished and the unplanned. One thus wonders if and how their emergence transforms the manufacturing methods of contemporary cities or can help to support the revitalization of rural spaces.

The institution of the common in “third places” and makerspaces. Discussions on the ways to “make in common” are an essential component of the “third places” and the makerspaces (fablabs or hackerspaces), in which the creators and the users think collectively about how “making” can produce new declensions of the common. What is the nature of these debates about “making”?

Architecture of alternative venues and hybrid places. The phenomenon of “third places” inspires a reflection on the structure of spaces suited to accommodate these hybrid practices. These places often fit by generative and incremental processes into existing buildings and inherit the typological specificity of a former train station, former hospital or neglected industrial building. How does the memory of the place influence the experiments and the relationships that develop there in the present? And what role can architects play in both the development of pre-existing buildings and the invention of these new places of debate, meeting and work?

CPCL Vol 2, no 2 timeline

January — Publication of the Call for Papers
16 June — Deadline for article submission
July-August — Peer review
September-October — Copy editing
November — Proofreading
December — Publication

For more information, consult our focus and scope and author guidelines.

Download the call for papers.

Vol. 2, no. 1. Call for Papers. Water Resilience: Creative Practices—Past, Present and Future

2018-07-13T00:00:00+02:00

CPCL Issue 2 invites contributions that explore creative practices and cultures of water as well as the physical structures that can promote societal resilience. Today, clean fresh water remains elusive for a good part of humankind. The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) identify universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water, as well as equitable sanitation and hygiene, as key goals. Water in rivers, lakes and seas is key to global transportation and under threat from pollution. Moreover, floods and sea-level rise but also changing precipitation patterns and droughts challenge human lives.

Highly recognisable bodies of water and extensive tangible networks of water infrastructure characterize European cities and landscapes. A rich world of narratives, laws, and practices established over centuries has created a complex framework that frames preservation, use and reuse practices today as well as the construction of new fresh and salt-water systems. European choices have shaped colonial and post-colonial practices around the world, making water an indicator of cross-cultural practices.

Researchers have looked at themes of water and heritage but often without recognizing it as an overarching research theme. This special issue posits that water and heritage need to be considered in a connected way. It calls for papers that overcome current disciplinary divides. It aims at arguing that culture plays a key role in people’s engagement with water, water heritage, and sustainable development practices. It invites contributions that place past creative practices connected to water in relation with those of the future, contributions that explore theoretical and methodological investigations and tie them to case studies based on primary analysis. Authors are encouraged to conclude with future oriented proposals on policies, practices, and spaces to create resilient futures for cities, landscapes, and bodies of water.

Contributions will explore (but will not be limited to) the following topics.

European water practices. What are the spatial and conceptual particularities of historical systems for drinking water provision and sewage, and for irrigation and drainage infrastructure in European cities and landscapes? Which regional strategies have proved successful for cities built on water? How have traditional decentralized practices supported local populations? How does private and public water management relate to legal, ecological and economic aspects?

Worldviews and narratives. How have religious, spiritual and other worldviews shaped narratives on water and water heritage? What do these historical practices teach us, for example on environmental pollution and climate change?

Cross-cultural exchange around water. How have private and public actors disseminated and learned from water infrastructures and practices around the globe? What are the remnants in contemporary society and how are they dealt with in policy making, planning, art, or design?

War and peace at a time of changing water systems. Access to water for drinking and transport has long been a key factor in conflicts and wars. What are the physical structures build for and against conflicts around water? Are there examples of water provision that promote and stabilize democracy?

Water at the time of the 4th Industrial Revolution. How does the introduction of new technologies (the internet of things, artificial intelligence) change the relationship of the individuals, nations and corporations to water infrastructures and practices? What can these new technologies mean in terms of renewable and non-destructive energy generation or eco-friendly mobility?

15 Nov 2018 end of submissions
30 Nov 2018 peer-review process and acceptance
30 Jan 2019 end of peer review process and start of copy editing
28 Feb 2019 end copy editing and proofreading
01 Mar 2019 start of article publications
20 Apr 2019 full issue closed

Download CPCL Vol. 2, no. 1 call for papers in PDF

EDIT: New Dates Vol. 1 no. 1. Call for Papers: From Temporary to Cosmopolitan Citizenship: Culture, Public Space, Conflicts and Alternative Living Forms

2018-04-30T00:00:00+02:00

The European Journal of Creative Practices in Cities and Landscapes, Vol. 1 no. 1.

Edited by Andrea Borsari, Vando Borghi and Gregor Fitzi

Call for Papers

From Temporary to Cosmopolitan Citizenship: Culture, Public Space, Conflicts and Alternative Living Forms

**EDIT: Deadline postponed**

CPCL Issue 1 explores the concept of cosmopolitan citizenship, understood as the recognition of the active participation of temporary city dwellers in the social, cultural and political community.

Public spaces in European Cities are increasingly crossed by various subjects commonly characterized by what can be defined as a temporary, living condition.

Migrants, refugees, students, seasonal, domestic or precarious workers, homeless individuals, tourists, city-users, commuters, peddlers and teenagers at once enrich and violate the consolidated historical balance of urban spaces and their life with new cultures, unexpected practices and different ways to experience and transform public space.

Culture plays a pragmatic role in these processes. Rather than a repository of past values to be preserved from external contaminations, culture can instead become a capacity projected towards the future. Through culture public space can also become the locus for unexpected conflicts and encounter, political clashes and alliances, social turmoil and innovation.

While public spaces play a primary role for consolidating and developing a culture of integration in Europe, the contribution of temporary forms of urban life is still not acknowledged in terms of civil rights and democratic duties. Citizenship is still understood as a formal and legal status whose access is bureaucratically restricted and politically negated.

A cosmopolitan approach to citizenship, instead, means reinterpreting democratic rights and duties through an open process of negotiation among different subjects, political voices and institutions.

The first issue of CPCL has the ambition to explore the ways in which public spaces embody cosmopolitan cultural approaches which can lead to a definition of temporary citizenship.

Contributions will explore the following topics:

The urban phenomenology of temporary citizenship. What relationships between temporary citizens and public spaces can be observed? What are the most destructive and the most constructive contributions temporary citizens offer the community through their practices in public spaces?

The conflict dynamics of temporary citizenship. Which interaction and conflict forms develop between full citizens and newcomers with partial access to citizenship rights? Which are the paths that allow to progress from the status of a dweller without rights to an accepted fellow citizen? Is there a way to establish a typology of the different citizenship status that compete for recognition in urban spaces?

Cross-cultural and trans-historical representations, narratives and perceptions of public spaces. How does the encounter of historical patterns and new experiences manifest in public spaces? How do temporary city dwellers see public space or affect the aesthetic experience of cultural heritage? What are the new forms of art emerging from displaced communities?

Technologies for a cosmopolitan democracy. How do digital technologies (ICT, augmented reality, etc.) interact with social, civic and cultural meaning of public spaces? Are digital technologies instruments for control and value extraction, or can they be used to promote democracy and inclusion of temporary citizens?

Public spaces as situated devices of cosmopolitanism. How can public spaces enable temporary users to constitute themselves as citizens? How do culture and the aesthetics of public spaces include or reject temporary citizens in experiencing and practicing a cosmopolitan approach to citizenship?

CPCL accepts manuscripts written in English, 6,000 words maximum (including footnotes and bibliography). Manuscripts should be submitted at cpcl.unibo.it. CPCL does not accept e-mail submissions.

For more information on check our Focus and Scope, and Author Guidelines.

For questions, inquiries and suggestions: cpcl@unibo.it

CPCL Issue 1 timeline

~~15 Jul~~ 1 Sep end of submissions
~~31 Jul~~ 15 Sep acceptance notice and start of peer-review process
~~30 Sep~~ 30 Oct end of peer review process and start of copy editing
~~30 Oct~~ 30 Nov end copy editing and proofreading
~~01 Nov~~ 01 Dec start of article publications
20 Dec full issue closed

Download the call for papers in pdf

European Journal of Creative Practices in Cities and Landscapes: Announcements

**EDIT:NEW DATES** CPCL Vol 7 no 1 Call for Papers. Mapping beyond the monodisciplinary approach: Exploring the potential of mapping in comparative research methods.

**EDIT:NEW DATES**CPCL Vol 6 no 2 Call for Papers "Public Art, Urban Arts: Aesthetics, Practices and Languages in the City"

CPCL Vol 7 no 1 Call for Papers. Mapping beyond the monodisciplinary approach: Exploring the potential of mapping in comparative research methods

CPCL Vol 6 no 2 Call for Papers "Public Art, Urban Arts: Aesthetics, Practices and Languages in the City"

CPCL Vol 6, no 1. Call for Papers. Mediterranean Imaginaries

CPCL Vol 5, no 1. Call for Papers. Aesthetics of the Anthropocene

CPCL Vol 4, no 1. Call for Papers. Port City Cultures, Values, or Maritime Mindsets: How to define and assess what makes port cities special

**EDIT:NEW DATES**CPCL Vol 3, no 2. Call for Papers. Design for people’s autonomy. Rights to independent living.

CPCL Vol 3, no 1. Call for Papers. Curating the city: artistic practices and urban transformations

Erratum

Vol 2, no 2. Call for Papers. The new Spaces of the Common: Spatial and Political Models of “Making”

Vol. 2, no. 1. Call for Papers. Water Resilience: Creative Practices—Past, Present and Future

**EDIT: New Dates** Vol. 1 no. 1. Call for Papers: From Temporary to Cosmopolitan Citizenship: Culture, Public Space, Conflicts and Alternative Living Forms

EDIT:NEW DATES CPCL Vol 7 no 1 Call for Papers. Mapping beyond the monodisciplinary approach: Exploring the potential of mapping in comparative research methods.

EDIT:NEW DATESCPCL Vol 6 no 2 Call for Papers "Public Art, Urban Arts: Aesthetics, Practices and Languages in the City"

EDIT:NEW DATESCPCL Vol 3, no 2. Call for Papers. Design for people’s autonomy. Rights to independent living.

EDIT: New Dates Vol. 1 no. 1. Call for Papers: From Temporary to Cosmopolitan Citizenship: Culture, Public Space, Conflicts and Alternative Living Forms