
Join Professor Lauren Andres in the next instalment of the Bartlett School of Planning Public Lecture Series.
Cities are typically thought of as permanent. Structures, streets, infrastructure, and other features of the built environment, even if they are periodically replaced, are intended to endure. But temporary, flexible spaces and uses are essential to how cities function and the ways urban dwellers inhabit them. Such adaptability, moreover, is fundamental if cities are to meet the challenges of the future. In this talk, Professor Andres will examine temporary urbanisms across varied global contexts, considering their significance for cities and everyday life as well as for policy and practice.
While engaging with the key components and debates that have shaped our understanding of adaptable cities in the past few decades, I will bring together the diverse and distinct forms and facets of temporariness and adaptability—from sites of consumption by privileged residents to the survival strategies of marginalized groups.
Doing so will allow exploring the driving forces of adaptability as well as the power dynamics and tensions between temporariness and permanence. I will also demonstrate how adaptability enhances livability, sustainability, and resilience, showing its importance for addressing crises such as climate change, socioeconomic inequalities, and pandemics.
[This event is free-of-charge but please pre-book to attend.]