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ORIENTERING: Cities in crisis

 

• UKRAINE: the reconstruction
• NYE BYER: Africa, China, 'The Line'
• Consequences of pandemics
• Palestine: urban agriculture
• Urban sharing economy
• Assistance in the elite's cities
• Solidarity and resilience
• Feminist urbanism

Appendix attached to the autumn edition of MODERN TIMES. The edition's editor is Erik Berg.

Cities in crisis

RECONSTRUCTION: This appendix gives the war's destruction of cities and towns in Ukraine and the need for reconstruction the most attention.
Eric Berg -

Solidarity and resilience

RESILIENCE: Photographer Eduardo Moreno – who has allowed us to use several photos in this appendix – asks if it is possible to think anew. He calls for us to learn to build new maps of closeness, density and cohesion.
Eduardo Moreno -

Urban agriculture in Palestinian refugee camps

FOOD: In refugee camps all over Lebanon and Syria, the Palestinian aid organization Jafra Foundation has been responsible for urban cultivation – with organic and short-lived herbs and vegetables. But the societal benefit extends further than that. They build planters, provide soil, compost, small plants, seeds and access to water.
Helen of France -

To build a preschool, a crèche, in Ethembeni

CAPE TOWN: South Africa is in a housing crisis, and with failing infrastructure and widespread political corruption, the poorest are hit hardest. The local humanitarian organization The Shackbuilder builds shacks, temporary housing made of wood and corrugated metal sheets for people in need. We tried to contribute.
Gabriel Berntsen Alfnes -

Assistance in the elite cities

DEVELOPMENT: The fact that the big cities have been ruled by elites since their rise during the colonial era is not an argument for overlooking the world's poor. Nevertheless, must we first come to terms with lingering prejudices about urban growth – and ask whether cities can be a solution to the development challenges?
Eilert Berre Ellefsen -

The cities' marketplaces

FOOD: The marketplace is the hub around which our food products revolve. The market square is the heart of the city. Archeology teaches us that the market with its trade marked the beginning of the city itself.
Maria Nystrom Reuterward -

Urban sharing economy

ROM: What do shared spaces and mobility mean for sustainable cities and regions? This is shown here by study examples from Santiago and Oslo.
Marcela Moraga Zarate -

The Line threatens the climate, the environment and human rights

NEOM: The biggest and most controversial 'new city' project in the world? In order to complete the enormous construction works in Saudi Arabia with the NEOM city project over the next 25 years, it is estimated that 100 workers will be needed – mainly migrants. At the same time, NEOM has been criticized for a lack of sustainable development and violations of human rights.
Eric Berg -

China is building 220 new million-dollar cities by 2025

URBANIZATION: China has chosen urbanization as its main strategy. In China, 11 million housing units are built every year, and 10–15 districts are completed every day. The country is now offering standardized turnkey city models to other countries at a loan cost of $4 billion – Ukraine next?
Eric Berg -

Approaches to affordable housing

HOUSING SUPPLY: Successful housing development relates to four instruments to produce affordable housing and reduce stigma.
Mohamed El Sioufi -

Africa's new cities – smart, eco, tech and hub

RESIDENTIAL BUILDING: Urban growth in Africa is faster than in any other continent. At the same time, one can find corridors of cities with the world's largest footprint of poverty, created by refugees and migrants on their way away from war and conflict, drought and floods.
Eric Berg -

A feminist urbanism?

ARGENTINA: Increasing acts of urban violence, both those that are experienced and those that are feared, are central problems in the life of cities. But especially men's violence against women, their possessions, their lands, their bodies and lives.
Ana Falu -

New 'floating' cities

FRIZZ: What began in the 1950s and 60s as converted cruise ships, adapted oil platforms, anti-aircraft bases, floating radio stations and abortion clinics has gained new relevance with digital technology. For the liberalist idea of ​​being 'free', new technology is essential: smart cities, continuous online, use of crypto-currency and direct elections.
Eric Berg -

Ukraine must own its own development

RECONSTRUCTION: What are the prerequisites for rebuilding better in a way that strengthens Ukraine's ownership of its own development? Is democracy both the means and the end? What can the international community contribute? We have asked six players.
Eric Berg -

Can Ukraine be rebuilt with its own efforts?

RECONSTRUCTION: During the first year of the war, the damage to Ukrainian homes is estimated at 50 billion dollars, and another 36 billion is damage to other physical infrastructure. How can one kick-start a war-ravaged industry and economy? So far it seems that the EU, the World Bank and the UN are coordinating their own donor systems independently of each other and Ukraine. But what does Norway do?
Eric Berg -

The consequences of pandemics for cities

CITIES: Life in the world's cities has always been characterized by epidemics and disease. Occasionally cities have been devastated by waves of infection, but mostly they have risen again and moved on. But what will be the consequences of the pandemic that originated in China in 2019? Can cities in our time handle such challenges again?
Peter Butenschøn -
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Rich full-format MODERN TIMES including the supplement Orientering and Modern Times Review comes out quarterly in early March, June, September and December) with international book reviews (non-fiction) and comments / essays. According to the physical newspaper (and PDF), the articles are published regularly online (see the newsletters).

© MODERN TIMES & Orientering AS. PO Box 3113 Elisenberg, 0207 Oslo. Chief editor: Truls Lie

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