MID_SIZE AND SCRAMBLE CITY

In the coming few days there are few interesting venues regarding The City. One of which is definitely a colloquium on ‘Mid-Size City’ – The Dual Nature of Urban Imagery in Europe During the Long 20th Century. It takes place in Ghent from 19th to 21th April and is organised by GUST (Ghent Urban Studies Team) from Ghent University. Even before we go out to the printer’s with our ‘Scramble City Cross Section of a Fictitious Secondary City’ project will have a ‘primeur’ presentation at the colloquium.a glimpse of Scramble City map

Scramble City presents the cross section of a fictitious secondary city, composed of elements from nine European cities. It is a visual essay by Lada Hršak, Michiel van Iersel, Dieuwertje Komen and Neeltje ten Westenend, recording a fragmented journey through a fragmented urban landscape. In as much as there are similarities among European urban pathways through time, there are also local particularities and differences. Europe’s cities have unique identities grounded in geography, climate, their overall function and historical narratives. This heterogeneity emerged clearly from the research (Fonds BKVB Study-trip) carried out by a group who undertook a ‘grand tour’ of Europe’s cities and travelled in close succession to Skopje, Priština, Tirana, Marseille, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Bilbao and Vitoria-Gasteiz. Scramble City is more than just a journey along places and people; it is ultimately a journey through time: the successes and failures in the creation of urban identity over the past decade.