Project connects local, international urban visions

The cities represented in Weltstadt – Who creates the city? include Joburg, Riga, New York, Seoul, Ulan Bator, Belgrade, Dakar, Bangalore, and several cities in Brazil and southwestern Europe.

Institute spokesperson Benjamin Keuffel said the initiative explored urban visions and used a participatory approach to city development.

“Who creates the city? Who shapes its future? In the light of pressing challenges such as global warming, economic crisis, migration and demographic change, this question is crucial,” he said.

“Will the city of the future be shaped by the usual experts, decision makers and investors, or will new and informal players take the initiative? On a global level, self-driven initiatives and participation are on the rise in urban development processes.”

The Joburg component of Weltstadt is a summary of the Informal Studio: Marlboro South and the (In)formal City project, which were conducted in Joburg and Berlin, Germany.

“Both projects investigate the complex relationships between the formal and informal development processes and practices related to city-making,” said Keuffel.

“In Johannesburg, architecture students and residents collaborated on producing maps, documenting living conditions, and exploring ways of improving the future of the living environment in Marlboro South, an informal settlement close to South Africa’s economic hub, Sandton.”

The findings of this process will be shown as part of the exhibition, which will coincide with the launch of the Informal Studio website that documents the research and teaching collaboration between 26’10 south Architects and the Faculty of Arts Design and Architecture at the University of Johannesburg.

Weltstadt – Who creates the city? will open on 17 July at the Goethe-Institut gallery, 119 Jan Smuts Avenue, Parkwood, at 6.30pm.

Details: 011 442 3232; www.goethe.de/johannesburg; www.goethe.de/weltstadt