City (Re)shaped (PDF)

The multidisciplinary conference 'The City (Re)shaped: Exploring the Nexus Between Politics, Memory and Urbanism in the Built Environment', organised by the Architecture and Urbanism Research Group was held at the University of Leeds, UK on 11-12 September 2018. Confronted with the increasing number of research projects and publications on Cities transformation in the global south, the conference aimed to enhance dialogue between academics and non-academic policy practitioners and community members. Both days of the conference included keynote speakers, workshops and roundtable discussions to debate and explore new insights on the history and future of cities through theoretical encounters and comparative analytical cases within the MENA, Europe and the rest of the world. The aim was to further the understanding of the intertwined dynamic nature of the Politics of Urbanism and the Urbanism of Politics as manifested in many cities around the world. Conversely, it questioned how cities and everyday urban life are used - and abused - in the containment of these broader national conflicts, in addition to exploring their potential for achieving the self-sustaining moderation, constructive channelling or resolution. We were particularly interested in scholarly contributions that speak to these themes through a range of topics across various spheres and powers relations. Hence, this special issue is one of the conference outcomes, which includes the publication of 15 selected papers which we anticipate that could lead to the development of new forms of collaborative work in this field.