Streets

The current context of public space in society is replete with conflicts around the roles and values it is based on. A constructive understanding and positioning on the matter becomes crucial in the practice of designing these spaces. This paper provides an understanding based on the early archetypes of public spaces. It examines four archetypes-the agora, the bazaar, the common ground and the street-in regard to their urban qualities and questions their relevance in the current context. The study reveals that a variety of factors influenced each archetypes' urban qualities and that a continuity can be observed in the importance of these aspects until nowadays. It concludes on the relevance of these references in the field of public space design and proposes an according definition of public space.

Early Bronze Age urbanization and urbanism in the Levant have long been important themes in scholarly discussion, with both the nature of the process and its results being the subject of lively debate. We view Early Bronze II (EB II) south Levantine urbanism as a novel ideological construct grounded in heterarchical modes of social organization, rather than a direct development from earlier village-based lifestyles. In the current study we employ a phenomenological approach that enables us to identify an urban habitus and to discuss cognitive aspects of town life, rather than constraining the discussion to urban morphology. Tel Bet Yerah in northern Israel is a good place to approach these issues, as it presents a continuous, extensively excavated Early Bronze Age sequence. One of the most prominent elements of the EB II fortified city is a system of paved streets that constructed space in a clear geometric pattern. The investment in street planning and engineering, alongside other aspects of planning, no doubt played a key role in the inculcation of urban concepts at the site. As shared public spaces, the streets were experienced and modified through the everyday practices of the town’s inhabitants and visitors. It is the negotiation between planning, ideology and practice that makes the streets of Bet Yerah an exemplary case of the role of architecture in promoting and sustaining a new social order.

URBAN ART: CREATING THE URBAN WITH ART
14-16 July 2016 – Humboldt University Berlin
Keynote: Prof. Dr. Frank Eckardt (Bauhaus-Universität Weimar)

The conference deals with Urban Art, a new form of art and activism, that occurs in urban areas worldwide. First known under the label of "Street Art", the term has expanded to include diverse artistic and visual interventions in the exterior space. In contrast to the traditional term ‘public art’ Urban Art is very inclusive. Thus, it is both part of and reflective of current processes of global urbanization.
The extremely heterogeneous manifestations of Urban Art range from large-scale wall paintings to tiny stickers, performative interventions to alternative forms of urban planning; they accompany multiple forms of urban and global criticism and try to encourage participation through low artistic techniques.They are seen in passing, often by chance, on the street or by the discovery of images and locations online and in social media. Finally, the ambivalent areas of upvaluation and reinterpretation of urban spaces (gentrification), advertising and city marketing (commoditization) and attacks on private property (vandalism) are topics of Urban Art.

Works of Urban Art tend not to emerge from the art establishment, but come from anonymous players who make use of simple techniques and materials. Therefore, Urban Art is a phenomenon of the 'Low', which indeed evolved from a subculture, but clearly has features of mass culture: it is easily accessible to a wide audience on the street and online, works of Urban Art are often produced in series and at a low price.Urban Art messages are striking, comparable to advertising, and serve as entertainment or express site-specific criticism of urban surroundings. At the same time, the implicit notion of the urban provides the opportunity to reflect on the present development of the city and its medialization or aestheticism. This includes processes of virtualization, which participants test in a playful artistic environment or also concerning the monitoring in public space.

Topics of interest for submission may include, but are not limited to:

• Urban or Public Art?
• New Media (Internet and social media in the production and reception of urbanity)
• Performativity (Action and reception by moving in the urban space)
• Politics (Processes of participation and gentrification)
• Tourism and Vandalism (Strategies of production and denial of urbanity)
• Global-Local (Site-specific significance - global expansion)
• Architecture and City Planning (Medialization of architecture and alternative forms of urban design/city planning)
• Urban Art Research (Terminology, history of the core concepts)
• Historicizing and Conservation of Urban Art
• The Urban Pedestrian
• Discussion of the concept of work (Werkbegriff) at Urban Art (What is the work of art in Urban Art?)
• Urban Planning and Philosophy
• Applied Ethics and the City
• Race in Urban Affairs
• Aesthetics and Urbanity
• Humans, Animals, and Environment and the City
• Feminism and the City
• The City in the History of Philosophy
• Urbanity and Justice
• Urban Technology: Architecture, Engineering and Smart Cities

Abstracts of no more than 1500 characters (including spaces) are invited for papers, panels and workshop presentations and should be suitable for presentations of approximately 30 minutes.

Conference language is English.

Proposals should include name, contact information (address, phone number, e-mail), title of the paper, short CV in English (max. 200 words). In the case of an unconventional presentation, please inquire.

Please send submissions and questions to Ilaria Hoppe, ilaria.hoppe@culture.hu-berlin.de and Ulrich Blanché, u.blanche@zegk.uni-heidelberg.de.
All submissions should be prepared for anonymous review. Notice of application results will be given by 1st May, 2016.

Deadline: April 1, 2016.

Partial reimbursement for travel expenses may be available for participants.

Contact
Prof. Dr. Ilaria Hoppe
Institut für Kunst- und Bildgeschichte
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Georgenstr. 47
10117 Berlin, Germany
Tel.: +4930-2093-66235

Dr. Ulrich Blanché
ZEGK - Institut für Europäische Kunstgeschichte
Universität Heidelberg
Seminarstraße 4
69117 Heidelberg
Tel.: +496221-54-3544

Primary fieldwork shows that everyday urban walking is characterized by discontinuity, meandering and ‘stop-and-go’ movements. This complexity is produced by seemingly constant ‘interruptions’, including other pedestrians, delivery services, people lingering, retail stalls, outdoor café extensions, containers and vehicles, urban furniture, as well as a variety of activities and sensory perceptions. We argue that these interruptions are inherent in urban walking, enhancing the presence of the city in pedestrian movement and enriching the experience of pedestrians. However, the actual urban planning and traffic regulations appear to be inadequate in governing this complexity through rigid spatial and social boundaries.

Co-authors: Edna Hernandez Gonzalez, Patricia Alvarez Watson, Florian Guérin, Jean-Paul Hubert, Jennifer Kozlowski, Antonin Margier, Benjamin Pradel, Julie Roussel, Carolina Vasilikou

Crime is a manifestation of incivility that society attempts to curb, yet faces enormous challenges, as crime is a by-product of urbanization and human advancement. As more agglomeration of the population in cities around the globe, humankind's safety from being threatened by crime needed to be safeguard to sustain everyday living in cities. Humans' coexistence with crime and fear of crime in cities visa -vis efforts preventing it from occurring has been widely carried out in developed countries. An increasing trend is showing in emerging and developing countries. Therefore, this article provides empirical evidence regarding a safe city program launched in Malaysia. This study aims to identify the factors contributing to the prevention of crime and fear of crime. This study employed a survey questionnaire to 400 pedestrians' perceptions of Kuala Lumpur city's central business district. The result showed that prevention methods through the actor of "capable guardians" (i.e., authorities) are effective; however, methods through the actor of "suitable victims" (i.e., communities) is ineffective. Further studies should explore perspective of the actor of "likely offenders" (i.e., criminals) to fill in the gap of safe city program's effectiveness and sustainability.