Mañana dará comienzo en la ETS de Arquitectura de la Universidad Politécnica de Valencia el XXIV International Seminar on Urban Form (ISUF), bajo el lema “City and territory in the globalization”, al que acudirá una amplia representación del IUU compuesta por Juan Luis de las Rivas (miembro del comité científico del congreso y ponente en una sesión plenaria), Enrique Rodrigo, Miguel Fernández y Marina Jiménez.

Toda la información sobre este congreso esta disponible en su página web, donde podéis descargar el programa detallado. Os adjuntamos finalmente a continuación la presentación:

The XXIV ISUF Conference in Valencia will examine urban morphology by exploring two dialectical relationships.

The first concerns global versus local issues. The significance of this relationship is embedded in the structure of many of the papers presented. Most of them seek to clarify, in some way, concepts, methods, sources or techniques, or combinations of these. They have commonalities with, and take a global approach to, the different disciplines concerned with urban morphology. However, for the most part they demonstrate applications to local environments.

The second concerns the dialectical relationship between research and practice. Two aspects are particularly evident in these papers. There is the description of urban forms, especially with regard to general principles relating to their arrangement and development. Then there is the recognition of the strengths and weaknesses of these physical outcomes, leading to recognition of social and environmental flaws, and consideration of the bases and means of rectifying these in practice.

In this light, we enter this Conference mindful of four principles pertaining to the future of ISUF as a forum for urban research and practice.

1. That various types of urban planning and design can be improved by deepening understanding of morphological configurations of urban space by applying global knowledge.

2. That the reading of the morphological configuration of urban space acquires especial value when its effectiveness is demonstrated locally.

3. That to achieve high quality living environments we must study social behaviour, adjust urban programmes and improve the design of public spaces.

4. That achieving sustainable balanced urban environments requires the regulation of space, respecting antecedent forms in scale, proportions and materials.

El próximo mes de septiembre tendrá lugar en la Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de la Universidad Politécnica de Valencia el XXIV International Seminar on Urban Form (ISUF), bajo el título de “City and Territory in the Globalization Age”. Para aquellos que estén interesados en participar, os informamos de que el plazo para enviar las propuestas, en forma de abstracts de 250 palabras, permanecerá abierto hasta el 31 de enero. Más información en la web del congreso.

Este congreso internacional, que se celebrará justo un año después del primer Congreso Hispánico ISUF-H, se propone actualizar los estudios sobre morfología urbana y planeamiento urbano y territorial en relación a dos cuestiones: la sostenibilidad medioambiental y las desigualdades sociales y urbanas. Para ello se han planteado los siguientes temas de referencia, que también dan cabida a los nuevos métodos de análisis:

1. Stages in territorial configuration

2. Urban form and social use of space

3. Reading and regenerating the informal city

4. Efficient use of resources in sustainable cities

5. City transformations

6. Cartography and big data

7. Tools of analysis in urban morphology

8. Urban green space

Os adjuntamos también a continuación el texto de presentación del congreso (en inglés):

CITY AND TERRITORY IN THE GLOBALIZATION AGE Never before, researchers and practitioners in Urban Morphology had the opportunity of visualising so precisely and globally the object of their work, or processing urban data so quickly and efficiently. As part of our planet, Europe seems to be already built and current projects tend to focus the improvement of their urban and regional condition while emphasizing environmental and social inequality issues, rather than focusing any extensive growth its cities. For its part, in the developed countries within the English-speaking world, the urban system is also firmly established and their universities and enterprises are currently producing accurate visualisation and data processing tools, with the added advantage of having a global language. Both developed areas, Europe and the Anglo-Saxon area, are aiming – and largely achieving- a penetration into “less urbanised” countries, each of the latter showing varying particularities. Spanish-speaking Latin America is characterized by a system of urban transformation based on an impossible to sustain extensive growth, while China, as representative of a group of countries with varying degrees of transformation, represents today a “laboratory” for developed countries’ technicians and enterprises, which seems somehow out of control, both from an environmental standpoint and in terms of social use of public space. And even worse, the destruction forced by armed conflicts, extends through South Asia, the Middle East and eastern and southern Africa. This should make us reflect on the role that should at present play the research and practice of urban morphology in this globalized context: it should not be “innocuous” because morphological issues have environmental and social implications, aspects in which global urban morphology associations of scholars and practitioners like ISUF carry a great responsibility. The XXIV ISUF Conference of Valencia firmly intends to give continuity to this discussion and updating studies of urban morphology forum, and draws attention of citizens, public authorities, institutions and enterprises to make them aware of its importance in order to environmentally and socially improve our planet.