Tag: archdaily-topic-2021-equity | ArchDaily

BIG's Telosa City Presents a Master Plan for Future Urban Development

Reyyan Dogan — Mon, 01 Sep 2025 06:30:00 +0000

Telosa is a conceptual proposal designed by Bjarke Ingels Group BIG in collaboration with entrepreneur Marc Lore, first announced in 2021. Planned to accommodate five million residents by 2050, the project sets out to establish a framework for sustainable and equitable urban living. Its initial phase, projected for 2030, is expected to house 50,000 people. Positioned as a purpose-built city, Telosa presents a long-term vision that combines ecological resilience, technological systems, and an alternative governance model as a possible prototype for future urban development.

How Environmental Neuroscience is Shaping Architecture and Urban Planning

Andreea Cutieru — Sat, 30 Sep 2023 07:30:00 +0000

Environmental neuroscience is an emerging field devoted to studying the impact of social and physical environments on brain processes and behaviour. From the various opportunities for social interaction to noise levels and access to green spaces, the characteristics of the urban environment have important implications for neural mechanisms and brain functioning, thus influencing our physical state. The field paints a different image of how cities impact our health and well-being, thus providing a new, scientific layer of understanding that could help architects, urban planners, and decision-makers create more equitable urban environments.

Cabrini-Green and Vele di Scampia: When Public Housing Projects Don’t Work Out

Matthew Maganga — Tue, 19 Sep 2023 04:00:00 +0000

The COVID-19 pandemic has seen inequalities laid bare, especially when it pertains to the unequal allotment of architectural resources to people. The start of the pandemic saw Europeans who could afford it, for example, leaving the urban metropolises they lived in and going away to their second homes in the countryside. We’ve also seen how poorer people in places like New York, for example, do not have adequate access to green spaces – a critical part of human well-being. Within this conversation is also the issue of social housing - known by multiple names around the world - and how the social housing that gets designed in the present and in the future should respond to ever-changing global needs.

Intersectional Design: Rethinking Architecture for the Future

Eric Baldwin — Sun, 17 Sep 2023 07:30:00 +0000

Design stems from nuance, empathy, and understanding. The best solutions address the needs, identities, and context of a client and place. A designer's response needs to be informed by these different realities. Intersectional Design is a method of designing by thinking through how factors of identity (gender, race, sexuality, class, and many more) interact with one another. In understanding how these factors combine, we can more deeply understand the context of use and an individual user's priorities.

The Urban Remnants of Colonial Planning in Africa: Dar es Salaam and Nairobi

Matthew Maganga — Tue, 12 Sep 2023 04:00:00 +0000

A quick glance today at the cities of the African continent reveals a rich diversity of urban settlements, ranging in type from rural enclaves to sprawling metropolises. That quick glance also reveals a larger picture of cities that are continuously adapting and evolving as we enter the decade of the 2020s – yet this evolution in many places is taking place at the expense of those who are less fortunate. This is not happening in a vacuum, as the reason why a lot of African cities look as they do today is a result of a segregated organization during colonial rule.

Redesigning Cities for Women

Marília Matoso — Mon, 19 Sep 2022 04:00:00 +0000

Have you ever thought that practically all the cities in the world, since the dawn of humanity, were and continue to be created and designed by men? From urban design to building projects, from public transport to chairs – women have not been part of the process of creating everything around us.

"It’s Not Because You Are Limited in Resources That You Should Accept Mediocrity": Interview with Francis Kéré, 2022 Pritzker Winner

Romullo Baratto — Wed, 16 Mar 2022 08:30:00 +0000

African architecture has received deserved international attention in the last decade and one of the main responsible for this is, undoubtedly, Diébédo Francis Kéré, 2022 Pritzker Prize Winner. Born in Gando, Burkina Faso, Kéré graduated in architecture at the Technische Universität Berlin, in Germany. Today, he maintains branches of his firm, Kéré Architecture, in both countries, through which he seeks to develop works in the "intersection of utopia and pragmatism", exploring the border between Western architecture and local practice.

What is Equity in Architecture and Design?

Camilla Ghisleni — Thu, 04 Nov 2021 05:00:00 +0000

The definition of equity in dictionaries is the quality of giving equal treatment to everyone while still acknowledging the differences between individuals. In this sense, equity means fairness in the way we act toward each person but keeping in mind his or her specific characteristics and needs. From a medical perspective, equity implies that everyone needs care and attention but not necessarily the same. It is also worth mentioning that the terms equity and equality are often used interchangeably but they mean different things, mainly because equality is based on the principle of universal rights, in which all individuals are subject to the same rules, without exception.

“Universal Representation Is Utopian”: Erica Malunguinho Talks About Urban Equity

Victor Delaqua — Tue, 26 Oct 2021 05:00:00 +0000

When crossing a space, a body carries within it many meanings. The reading that translates into this person-architecture dialogue, and the sensations that arise from it, demonstrate much of the social inequality and violent structures intrinsic to the Western imagination, which privileges the same standard: the white man. Finding a place of rebalancing in which it is possible to create an alternation of power —in race and gender - is a commitment by Erica Malunguinho.

Rights to the City and Urban Conflicts in Latin America: What Can Be Done?

Fabian Dejtiar — Wed, 20 Oct 2021 05:00:00 +0000

María Cristina Cravino, the head of numerous research projects and publications on informal settlements and the politics of public habitation, draws from her background in anthropology to become one of the most prominent voices in the discussion about rights to the city and modern urban conflicts.

Is There a Solution to Inequality in Latin American Cities?

Victor Delaqua — Wed, 06 Oct 2021 05:00:00 +0000

The concept of equity is different from equality; equity means everyone needs support, but not necessarily in the same way. Therefore, the concept of urban equity allows us to preserve the uniqueness of each region of a municipality, protecting diversity and richness without overlooking infrastructure needs, which directly affect the quality of public space and the basic services required for a private residence - it allows us to design and invest in the city fairly, regardless of the region.

“The Citizen Urbanism Claims an Alternative Urban Model From Latin America”: Ocupa Tu Calle’s Lucia Nogales

Fabian Dejtiar — Tue, 05 Oct 2021 05:00:00 +0000

Lucía Nogales is the general coordinator of Ocupa tu Calle (Occupy your Street) —an UN-Habitat, Avina Foundation-supported initiative promoted by Lima Como Vamos— which focuses on 'citizen urbanism' for inclusive and resilient cities in Latin America.

How "Smarter" Cities Can Exacerbate Inequity

Matthew Maganga — Sat, 02 Oct 2021 07:30:00 +0000

The urban metropolises of our planet are home to an abundance of stories. They are home to stories of wealth, of innovation, and of architectural marvels. They are home, too, to stories of inequality, inequity and of urban divides – places where one’s income determines the quality of the spatial environment around them. Within these stories has developed an increasing advocation for making cities “smarter”, the goal being to use data and digital technology to build more efficient and convenient urban environments.

The Evolution of the House Plan in the United States: Post-war Era

Agustina Coulleri, Hana Abdel & Clara Ott — Fri, 01 Oct 2021 04:00:00 +0000

Following the Second World War, United States veterans and citizens were seeking a fresh start, a rightful place to live out their modern American dream. With a significant housing shortage looming around and fast-growing families, solutions had to be found to provide equitable living means for all. The development of new construction techniques and propagation of easy building materials promised an age of prosperity.

The Cost of Climate Change: Who is Really Protected by Urban Mitigation Efforts?

Kaley Overstreet — Sun, 26 Sep 2021 07:30:00 +0000

The impact that the climate crisis has had on the globe over the last decade is a critical influence on how architects and urban planners design future cities. It’s clear that both at an individual and corporate level, it’s important to take action and protect the earth before the negative impacts change our familiar environments forever- and time is running out fast. When it comes to creating ways to save our cities from “the next big one”, whether it be a hurricane, flood, snowstorm, or fire, the way that we design the preventative infrastructure neglects a significant number of people. Climate change doesn’t just impact the wealthiest places in the world, it actually has greater effects on the most impoverished.

Environmental Inequalities: Different Levels of Climate Risks and an Uneven Green Transition

Andreea Cutieru — Mon, 20 Sep 2021 04:00:00 +0000

Since the 2015 Paris agreement, mitigating climate change has been established as a common, world-encompassing goal; however, both the impacts of the climate crisis and the actions currently being taken vary widely across the globe. At the moment, the most prominent cities are outpacing governments in addressing the climate crisis and fostering a green transition, but their actions are counteracted by inaction and an increase in carbon emissions elsewhere. Moreover, the vulnerabilities and adaptive capacity to different levels of climate disruptions vary across nations. Discussing environmental inequalities through the lens of climate risks and mitigation actions, the following highlights the need for a global coordinated and transdisciplinary effort in addressing the climate crisis.

Power, Inequity, and Maps: An Urban Analysis

Matthew Maganga — Fri, 17 Sep 2021 07:30:00 +0000

The way our world looks like today is a result of centuries and centuries of human migration, of complex natural phenomena that has resulted in the geographic appearance of the world’s continents today. We understand this world through our lived experiences, but we also understand this world through a two-dimensional man-made invention – maps. Maps define the many contested borders of the world and have been used in an oppressive capacity, in particular places, for example, segmenting off sections of a place from marginalised societal groups.

Are Our Cities Built for the Youth?

Dima Stouhi — Wed, 15 Sep 2021 04:00:00 +0000

Cities we live in today have been built on principles designed decades ago, with prospects of ensuring that they are habitable by everyone. Throughout history, cities have been catalysts of economic growth, serving as focal points for businesses and migration. However, in the last decade, particularly during the last couple of years, the world has witnessed drastic reconfigurations in the way societies work, live, and commute.