The Open City

Competition. Honourable mention

The Open City recovers ideas:

Because citizens, and their capacity to transform, have transcended the realm of private resources.

Because the social exercise of choosing the city involves all social layers and representatives.

Because contemporary development dynamics have generated an open debate between housing and urban space.

Because urban landscapes are the consequence of actions, not protected spaces.

From the Open City, we miss a creative, integrating relationship.

The Open City approach:

Mobility.

A plural, variable, transformable project. Avoiding social homogenisation and frustration: varied opinions, ethnic groups, approaches. That is, different ways of life.

Allowing diversity to flourish.

By allowing diversity (people, activities, beliefs) to flourish, the city space makes integration possible, without destroying differences: in fact, it celebrates them. Dealing with difference does away with the urban roots of forbidden spaces.

Creating a flowing space.

Flowing spaces do not depend on specific structures or locations. Flowing spaces are variable. They avoid the introversion of a fragmented and circumscribed programme of places.

Developing a technological commitment.

Technology as a tool for development, rather than an event. Involving technology in the effective management of resources, overcoming the idea of the technological supplement as an improvement unrelated to general approaches.

co-author:
Daniel H. Nadal