Why I (Still) Call Myself an Urbanist

in #sndbox6 years ago (edited)

I am an urbanist - someone who studies cities, its fabric and the people who inhabit it

When did I become an urbanist? I don't know.

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Seoul

I come from a background of architecture and urban planning. After 5 years of Architecture school in India and an internship with the biggest firm in the country, I was a wary of the practice and the way it manifested itself in Indian cities. So when the opportunity to study urban planning in France presented itself, I jumped at it.

In France, I learnt to take a step back from the built form and focus on a slightly bigger picture. What I enjoyed most about the urban planning course was that I got to work on projects with people from diverse backgrounds who brought views to the table that I could and would not have. It was here where I saw the need for a multidisciplinary approach to urban projects. I worked with the pole des arts urbains on my thesis - the role of Art in Urban Planning. Maud Le Floch, my mentor, introduced me to the term 'urbaniste'. It was one that I gradually adopted too.

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Tours

However, in India the term was as bizzare. It evoked confusion from strangers and incredulous laughs from friends. One friend would love watching me meet new people and trying to explain what I did for a living. What was I doing for a living? I was working with urbz, an urban research collective based in Mumbai and Geneva. The practice follows a 'user generated' approach to its projects and is based in what is considered the largest 'slum' in Asia - Dharavi.

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Bombay

At urbz I grew as an urbanist. Dharavi taught me about the intrinsic nature of homegrown neighbourhoods, the incremental manner in which they grow and the way the people who live in them constantly shape them. It was a playground to learn about participatory practice, high density living, live-work conditions and homegrown solutions for common urban problems. With urbz, I started looking at cities through a new lens, my travels gained newer perspectives and soon, I considered just being in a city as work itself. I enjoy it. I volunteered to work at the Geneva office for one summer and had saw how a similar approach manifested itself in Europe. The founders, Rahul and Matias, gave me the space to explore my interests and encouraged me to develop newer ones. A lot of my views and approach stems from their incredible work and guidance.

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Dharavi

I lived on the periphery of Dharavi in a redeveloped chawl and shared a wall with Bhau, my 80 year old landlord and friend. Bhau was instrumental in showing me how far civic activism can work in homegrown settlements, how it's important to place the spotlight on the user but also to make them realise that the spotlight is there in the first place. Personally, he provided me with a shoulder to cry on the nights I was lonely and was there to celebrate with a bottle of whiskey the nights I was happy.

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Rivers and mountains are passé. Urbanscapes on the way home in Dharavi

Right now, I work in Seoul. A friend of mine invited me to join her team architects, designers and planners to work on a range of urban projects in South Korea. I'd never been to any other part of Asia, and I was excited at the idea of experiencing work in this new context. Seoul is my new playground. The buildings are so big, the projects happen so fast and the city comes with a fascinating history of urban development. I live in the heart of a gentrified neighbourhood where there is no dearth of activity or things to observe. What's most interesting about South Korea is that there is a change in its attitude to urban planning. All the research and workshops that I participated in back in Mumbai have the potential of being translated into actual projects here.

So, maybe the question is not when I became an urbanist. But why I (still) call myself one.

I've always been shy to call myself an architect or an urban planner or a designer, or a writer. But we live in a world where we have to establish an identity through profession to be read and understood. And so, I call myself an Urbanist. My job involves a wide range of things - Design, Writing, Workshops, Research - and revolves around the way cities and the people who live in it interact with each other.

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Man vs. Sea, Mumbai Monsoon

I first heard of Steemit from @soulturtle who I usually meet once a year at new year's parties. This year, he was raving about the site and encouraged me to get on it. I wrote an #introduceyourself post called Why I Call Myself An Urbanist. I didn't know what else to do or who to follow so the first thing I did was enter 'urbanist' in the search field. I figured that if someone else knew/idenitified with/ was using the term, I'd find something in common. I came across an article written by @voronoi and then sndbox.

Over the last months, I followed sndbox's incubator of multidisciplinary creative endeavours. I saw glimpses of projects that involved architecture and the built environment. Through sndbox, I saw steemit as more than just a content platform. It showed me that the blockchain could alter the way that we view the world. And what is the world if not its urban fabric?
When the call for applications for the second cohort was out, I signed up.

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Geneva

So far, my journey on the platform has been a mish-mash of artwork, random thoughts, phone photos, rants and glimpses of my work. I told myself that if I made the sndbox cohort, I would focus on being an urbanist and creating content that revolved around architecture, cities and dive into exploring how the blockchain could have an impact on our surroundings. I'm also in South Korea where the blockchain and crypto community seems to be so active that it could be the perfect experimentation ground.

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Seoul

I'm now a part of Cohort 2! It's slightly daunting but I'm also excited to have a reason to focus and talk about the subjects I want to explore for myself. So all the urbanists in the house, raise a glass. Here's to urbanisting on the blockchain.


This post explores some of the ideas that sndbox's Cohort 2 members are tasked to think about for the monthly assignment.

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I'm def. a city child and always be but during our travels and passed time I do urge time in the middle of nowhere! If my younger-self could read this, he would flip :) But I'm discovering now that the urban and country settings have each something special to offer.

Definitely agree, @for91days. I love cities but also enjoy the countryside (for limited periods of time). I think it's the speed of the urban setting that's addictive. And even then, smaller cities have something different to offer than a larger metropolis. They're all incredible experiences.

Ow ow ow! Congratulations! Wow. I love it. I could identify with 'Urbanist' too, but maybe for other reasons, or a few overlapping as well. Loved your post, you've found your place on Steem for sure :-)

I'm sure that a lot of people from various backgrounds can identify as urbanists. It's what makes it so special (and what the next post is about!)

I can see the urbanist in you, @soyrosa! Especially with the looking out of train windows series.

Thanks for reading!

Now this is the kind of fresh conversation I would love us to have in person! You can be City Mouse and I'll take the part of Country Mouse.

Oh yesss! And we can make a tv show out of it. I'm definitely a city mouse.

I love cities and villages. When in Paris, I often wander aimlessly and discover so many charming spots. And I often take a day to visit a town - went to Rouan for my birthday.
I was born in Chicago, and still get quite a kick out of a day in the city. Cities all have distinct personalities, like people, and neighborhoods within cities are micro-societies that have their own particular ambiance too. Fascinating stuff.

Yes, they each have their own charms. Paris, specially, where you can be an anonymous flâneur and go where the wind takes you. And the quaint intimacy that a smaller town offers is also pleasing. I've never been to Rouen but the cathedral seems lovely! What a drastic difference it must be from Chicago which also seems like a wonderful place to visit!

I love how you desribe cities as having their individual personalities. In a way, every time we visit a new place, it's like meeting a new person. There's new conversations to have and new memories to make together.

It really is fascinating. Thanks for reading, @kathleenscarboro!

Congratulations on becoming a formal part of sndbox. And upon your progress in recognizing yourself as an "urbanist". The way you describe it, urbanism is conceptual and creative, but most of all it's optimistic. It's an investment in the future of people. It looks forward to integrating utility with aesthetics. I've never had much use for form without function. There's a commonly seen lawn ornament in my area--a hitching post, but no horse. So completely illogical and pointless. Urbanism seems the opposite of that--form and function united for a more harmonious community.
Good luck, @manouche, on sndbox, and more expansively, in your creative endeavors.

Thanks, @agmoore! We have to find a way to keep in touch that doesn't depend on the comment section.

I think anyone who's interested in urbanism can be an urbanist. I just have the education to recognise it and the tools to express myself. Urbanism is something that encompasses so many different fields that it it just naturally allows for a conversation between many different disciplines.

I guess I'm an urbanist :)---without the education. Yeah, communicating in comments is like yelling in a crowded room. Still, I'm so pleased to watch your progress. Every one of your blogs is a pleasure.

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Congratulations @manouche! You have completed the following achievement on Steemit and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :

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Hello @manouche, thank you for sharing this creative work! We just stopped by to say that you've been upvoted by the @creativecrypto magazine. The Creative Crypto is all about art on the blockchain and learning from creatives like you. Looking forward to crossing paths again soon. Steem on!

Thanks @creativecrypto! Appreciate the encouragement.

Incredible stories.

Thanks for reading, @mintvilla!