International Conference
New Urban Languages 2014:
Re-thinking Urban Ideology
in Post-ideological Times

Madrid, Spain
CALL FOR PAPERS CLOSED
Politecnico di Milano
DAStU | Depatment of Architecture and Urban Studies

25th -27th June 2014, Madrid
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
Escuela Técncia Superior de Arquitecura

THEME OF THE CONFERENCE 
Why do we need to talk about urban ideology now? What is urban ideology?
Following Slavoj Zizek’s words, if we assume the necessary existence of an ideology at the base of relationships “between visible and non-visible, between imaginable and non-imaginable”, the answer is because our world is facing an increasing uncertain future.
When it is easier to imagine a catastrophic end of the world, rather than real alternatives that seem just and fair, when the hegemonic forces of capitalism compel us to produce generic urban spaces throughout the globe, while, paradoxically, local forces raise their voices to claim recognition, we need to discuss planning and designing theory and practice more than ever, and we need to discuss politics and ideology urgently.
Since 2008, more than 50% of the world population lives in cities. The fact is that most of us live in an urban world, with new challenges and conflicts leading evolving processes to an unpredictable spatial scenery.

SESSIONS
This debate will be structured in four non-disconnected Sessions:

1. Ideological answers to the crisis
The world is in crisis: climate is changing, economy is unable to rise again, many areas of our planet are affected by wars, many local systems are unable to maintain their standard of living. This has happened before in human history, but not with this intensity. In these lasts years many cities tried to answer this situation with new ideological models: green economy, resilience, smart cities, urban competitions for global investment. Have these answers helped the cities in which they were applied? Have these failed? Why? In which ways?

2. Ideology and urban form in the 21st century
We know that design always carries within itself a representation of the designer’s identity and beliefs, and many authors advance the idea that there is a big relationship between the Weltanschauung of a population and the form of its cities. In which ways can we see this phenomenon in the classical cities of Christianity, the Islamic World, old China and other recognizable dominant ideologies? In which way has this evolved or changes in the 20th and 21st centuries?

3. Ideology in a networked urban world
Today, there is a pervasive faith on social networks and ICT. Everyone can see the potentials of new technologies in the governance and the plan of space, and the ways in which this phenomenon is changing our relation with the urban space. Are there any critical aspects in this phenomenon for urban living? Is it possible to formulate a critique of this new global ideology, based on case studies?

4. Future urban narratives
Narratives are great tools to describe the present and orient the future. In recent past, some great narratives overcame theological narrations in the West, reorienting life in the region towards rationality and the rule of secular law, with important consequences to all aspects of urban life and government. Are there any emerging new narratives, which are now taking global relevance? Which futures are planted in the seeds sawn by these new narratives? In which ways these new narratives could re-orient the future of our cities?

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
• Franco Farinelli | University of Bologna 
• Stephen Graham | Global Urban Research Unit - Newcastle University’s School of Architecture
• Gabriele Pasqui | Department of Architecture and Urban Studies (DAStU) - Politecnico di Milano
• Juval Portugali | Department of Geography and the Human Environment - Tel Aviv University

IMPORTANT DATES
April 2, 2014 | Registration Open 
April 20, 2014 | Notification acceptance
May 20, 2014 | Registration Closed
May 30, 2014 | Full Paper submission
June 5, 2014 | Final submission of revised versions of accepted papers

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE 
• Inés Aquilué Junyent, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya 
• Mattia Bertin, Politecnico di Milano 
• Matteo Bolocan Goldstein, Politecnico di Milano 
• Frank Eckardt, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar 
• Luca Gaeta, Politecnico di Milano 
• Andrea Giordano, Università di Padova 
• Juan Miguel Hernández León, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid 
• María Asunción Leboreiro Amaro, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid 
• Sofia Morgado, Universidade Técnica de Lisboa 
• Paola Pucci, Politecnico di Milano 
• Roberto Rocco, Delft University of Technology 
• Rossella Salerno, Politecnico di Milano 
• Javier Ruiz Sanchez, Unversidad Politécnica de Madrid 
• Daniele Villa, Politecnico di Milano

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE 
• Javier Ruiz Sanchez | Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
• Mattia Bertin | Politecnico di Milano
• Rossella Salerno | Politecnico di Milano
• Daniele Villa | Politecnico di Milano
• Roberto Rocco | Delft University of Technology

INFORMATIONS AND CONTACTS
Conference Website
EMAIL | newurbanlanguages@gmail.com