RE-MIXING THE CITY – Towards Sustainability and Resilience?

Cities worldwide are facing rapid social, economic, environmental, technological and cultural changes such as: rapid urbanisation, aging of society, security issues, housing emergency, new solutions on mobility, integration of immigrants, food and water shortage, etc.

Especially in times of economic crisis and demographic changes in cities, it is necessary to think about how to best handle what we have, and therefore “RE-MIXING THE CITY” is a challenge to manage and re-combine the elements which make our modern cities in order to better respond to change. REAL CORP 2012 in Schwechat will offer the possibility to collectively discuss a wide range of topics in different panel groups and workshops.

REAL CORP 2012 covered the following sections and topics:

• Can “mixed cities” be more sustainable and resilient?
• Living, working, learning, relaxing, enjoying, shopping, ... – anything anywhere & anytime?
• Is it the purpose of spatial planning to “sort land uses in space”?
• Do the urban patterns and structure of our cities still meet the needs of the people in their everyday life?
• How do urban, transport and environmental technologies and solutions shape our cities?
• New faces, new approaches, new ideas – does and can migration re-mix the city?
• Time-space patterns of the 24/7 city

Changes and diversification are ubiquitous in cities and regions. The quest for continuous renewal and improvement is a driver towards a thriving development, as well as land use impact, displacement and “constructive destruction” with all the side effects.

Urban development is not a one-way street leading towards an ideal end. Changes of the framework – like revival or crisis of economic sectors, the change of social ideals or ecologically driven challenges – demand the adaptation of the system of aims and development strategies. Also changes of the infrastructure and targeted interventions of planning (lighthouse projects, major events, …) lead towards elementary changes of the dynamics and trends of development.

Permanent change takes place – often as continuous, evolutionary development, but sometimes also with huge, dramatic turning points.
The matter of “change as requirement for stability of cities and regions” is the core topic of REAL CORP 2011. How can planning deal with “lifecycles of cities and regions”?

Special attention will be paid to the technical possibilities of confronting and forming the changes: planning processes and instruments as well as urban, environmental, transport and communication technologies.