Topic Urbanism

News

GSD faculty at Contemporary South Asian City Conference

The current explosive growth of South Asian cities was the impetus for the Contemporary South Asian City Conference this month in Karachi, Pakistan, where Rahul Mehrotra (chair and professor of urban planning and design) gave the first guest lecture, titled “Kinetic City.” He was attending as part of a Harvard team that included Spiro Pollalis (Professor of Design, Technology and Management) and Justin D. Stern (PhD student in urban planning and design), as well as representatives from the School of Public Health, South Asia Institute (a co-sponsor of the conference) and Harvard Medical School.

Jan 28, 2014

News

Marianne Potvin on the perils of humanitarianism

When humanitarian relief organizations substitute for civic structures in states weakened by crisis and conflict, a new type of urbanism prevails, contends Marianne Potvin (MDesS ‘13 and PhD). Too often the resulting agendas ignore or sacrifice the needs of the devastated populations they purport to serve. Potvin examines this phenomenon through the lens of “humanitarian urbanism” in an article for Open Democracy entitled "Kabul: the humanitarian city."

Dec 17, 2013

News

Sara Hendren – still rolling over obstacles

Sara Hendren (MDesS '13) is not known for drawing within the lines and she’s not easily discouraged. She started her guerrilla art project, the Accessible Icon Project, as a provocation and conversation starter 3 years ago in Cambridge with Brian Glenney.  By now it’s become a global movement, seasoned by a touch of controversy, and it landed her on the front page of the Boston Globe Saturday. Read “Wheelchair icon revamped by guerrilla art project.”

Dec 17, 2013

News

GSD and Bergamo University launch Smart[er] Citizens collaboration

The Smart[er] Citizens research and teaching collaboration between the GSD and Bergamo University has launched with a one-week design workshop in Bergamo, Italy. The workshop's strategic analysis of Bergamo will form the basis for the Smart[er] Cities course being offered in the 2014 spring semester by Nashid Nabian.

Dec 5, 2013

News

Sai Balakrishan wins ACSP award

The Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning has announced its 2013 awards, and Sai Balakrishan (PhD ’13) is being honored with the Gill-Chin Lim Award for the Best Dissertation on International Planning. Her paper “Land Conflicts and Cooperatives along Pune’s Highways: Managing India’s Agrarian to Urban Transition” focuses on the challenges as India makes its conversion from an agrarian to an urban economy.

Dec 5, 2013

News

Mayor and planning director of Bogotá meet with students

The planning director and mayor of the city of Bogotá, Columbia, had a lunch discussion with the GSD community on November 7, co-sponsored by HUPO. Mayor Gustavo Petro’s visit to Harvard included a lecture titled "The Political Struggle for a Sustainable and Inclusive City."

Nov 12, 2013