Urbanism in the Expanded Field

Urbanism has long been considered a complex and time-consuming form of practice, challenged today more than ever by a global condition of an unsettling instability. We propose to consider this fleeting moment in time and space as a case study and platform for understanding larger trends around urbanism, densification, ecosystems, and the infrastructures that connect them. This conference proposes to expand the field of urbanism not only beyond the existing fields of expertise but also beyond the commonly accepted territory of the city. It brings forward different forms of "urbanism," found beyond the city's borders, sometimes temporary and different from familiar definitions of what is called “urban”, and not always following the rules or even dogmas of the accepted discourse of “good urbanity”. We invite researchers, policy-makers, practitioners, students and teachers to share their experiences and join us in an attempt at disrupting the common understanding of concepts such as "city,“ "settlement," "village," and "suburb", with innovative thinking. We seek an urbanism that is resilient, responsive, porous and permeable - one that can invert the late-capitalist tendencies of perpetual into an ever-expanding conception of the “urban” and its mechanisms of sustainable growth.