RC21 CONFERENCE 2013
Resourceful cities
Berlin (Germany), 29-31 August 2013
Humboldt-University Berlin, Institute for Social Science, Dept. for Urban and Regional Sociology
Resilience cities and the crisis: Local responses, governance and citizen actions
Although the crisis broke out differently in each country and each city/region, its causes, consequences and policies adopted in order to address it seem to follow similar patterns. Following a long period of neoliberal reforms that mostly led to today’s crisis, further aggressive adjustments are imposed, both from international and domestic actors and interests. The imposed austerity programmes include, amongst others, the elimination of labour rights, the minimization of social welfare, and massive privatization programs; all portrayed as an inevitable solution.
At the city and regional level, we find t austerity measures following the same pattern, that is, the privatisation of local welfare systems and the intensification of mega-urban projects. However, on the other hand, we recognise the emergence and consolidation/ embeddedness of innovative social and institutional responses to the crisis that put more emphasis on a socially and environmentally sustainable development such as alternative economies, exchange and solidarity networks, processes of democratization, a new role for local authorities. Usually, both kinds of responses coexist at the same time in the same city. In this sense, we understand urban resilience as the capacity of social groups in a city to deal with the current economic crisis, with or without institutional support, and to experiment with and develop more sustainable and equitable ways of living.
We are interested in papers dealing with responses from local governments and/or citizens groups and informal networks/social movements to the current economic crisis. We look forward to receiving research on local resilience experiences and comparative studies among cities. Reflections on urban resilience and its theoretical and methodological application in cities in economic crisis are also very welcome.
Session Organizers
Dr. Marc Martí-Costa, Autonomous University of Barcelona – Institute of Government and Public Policies, Passeig Urrutia, 17, 08042 Barcelona, Spain. T: +34 93 407 62 03, E: Marc.marti@uab.cat
Dimitra Siatitsa, National Technical University of Athens- Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Ellanikou 19, 11635 Athens, Greece, T: +30 6977 913 876, E: dimisiat@gmail.com
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