In the last decade we have witnessed the strengthening of an international network of higher education all over the world. The need to educate and develop our contemporary society is a machine in continuous work and progress. Being a student is a condition that makes individuals, enriches culture and often crosses boundaries. Students are a necessary piece in the capitalist economy, which makes them a valuable and essential resource in order to sustain its markets. Therefore, countries and institutions compete to hold more and more students within their society but what are the consequences of the internationalisation of higher education (and its market(s) that is taking place on a global scale? The globalisation and internationalisation of education promote a migration of students always on the rise. In some cities such as Umeå, it implies consequent urban growth, the need to develop facilities, services and accommodations. Such patterns of immigration make students actors in the real estate market of the country they move to but they do not always find adequate conditions for their integration. The current economic crisis has debilitated many markets including that of real estate, and in that context, the thesis explores alternative ways of approaching affordable accommodation for students, as well as a different understanding of urban planning that aims at enabling diverse coexistences of students and other inhabitants and the progressive transformation and hybridisation of otherwise very homogenous areas of the city.

This dissertation offers an ethnography of motorcycle taxi drivers: Bangkok's most important and informal network of everyday mobility. Drawing on over eight years of experience in the region, six months of archival research, and 24 months of fieldwork, I analyze how the drivers, mostly male rural migrants, negotiate their presence in the city through spatial expertise, bodily practices, and social relations. Their physical mobility through traffic, I argue, shapes their ability to find unexplored routes in the social, economic, and political landscapes of the city and to create paths for action where other urban dwellers see a traffic jam or a political gridlock. My narrative builds up to the role of these drivers in the Red Shirt protests that culminated in May 2010 and analyzes how their practices as transportation and delivery providers shape their role in political uprisings and urban guerilla confrontations. My main finding is that when the everyday life of the city breaks down the drivers take advantage of their position in urban circuits of exchange to emerge as central political actors in contemporary Bangkok by blocking, slowing down, or filtering the circulation of people, goods, and information which they normally facilitate. Owners of the Map proposes an alternative view of contemporary urbanism in which the city is constructed day after day through the work of connection and mediation, its frictions and failures, the tactics adopted to resist them, as well as the political tensions that emerge from these struggles. / Anthropology

I conducted a case study analysis of Dubai, exploring multiple urban design tactics for a more sustainable development approach to Dubai’s pattern of development. Particularly, this dissertation identifies sustainable urban form design principles and strategies for a Dubai neighborhood. The research addresses the question: which form-based urban design strategies effectively deliver greater environmental, social, and economic coherence in Dubai’s neighborhood development? In addition, this research addresses the question of whether certain urban form design principles contribute comparatively more than others to sustainability. I used two rounds of the Delphi technique, a structured communication technique utilizing multiple rounds of questioning, to obtain experts’ knowledge and opinions to redefine urbanism in Dubai towards more ecological and social responsive practices. My analysis of the Delphi reveal that in Dubai, the most sustainable neighborhoods are those emphasizing more public participation in the initial planning process, i.e., connectivity and multiple transportation options; adequate diversity; green, open, and social nodes in the urban fabric; culturally-relevant urbanism and architecture; climate-sensitive urbanism and architecture; eco-balanced design applications; and adaptability, all integrated with one another in the compactly arranged urban fabric. Approaches to sustainable development must stress elements other than just design itself, such as grasping the nuances of the cultural traditions, politics, and implementation constraints. Therefore, this research also involved collecting survey responses from local and expatiate residents in Dubai and interviewing Dubai government officials in order to identify and to understand the relevant political and cultural aspects as well as obstacles associated with the experts’ design recommendations. In particular, survey responses were used to: (1) identify the public opinion surrounding some of the Dubai neighborhood design ideas suggested by an international and local panel of experts; and (2) understand how the public value and prioritize the suitability of the proposed design strategies to Dubai’s cultural environment. Interviews with the local authorities in Dubai facilitated (1) the determination of troublesome challenges and constraints for implementing some of the urban design strategies defined by experts in the Delphi; and (2) identification of implementation opportunities and possible policy initiatives that might support the implementation of the proposed strategies. I also synthesized all research data to identify areas of overlap and disagreement among research participants (the experts, public, and government officials). Finally, the last chapter discusses two major obstacles challenging different aspects of sustainability. I also detail a potential solution to prevail over the challenges, and introduce potential areas of future research. / text

This research examines a contemporary planning case in Toronto where tensions between policy visions and planning practices contribute to our understanding of neoliberal urbanism. Media, policy and interview discourses contribute to developing the nexus between neoliberal urbanism, creative class theory and gentrification in the case of 629 Eastern Avenue. The amalgamation of Toronto’s municipalities in 1998 resulting from the “Common Sense Revolution”, and the ‘creative turn’ in the 2000s are identified as two key evolutionary stages in Toronto’s neoliberal urbanism. The City’s contradictory positions as “grassroots” organizers, market actors and market regulators reveals their interventionist role in this case. The analytical imperative presented by this case study to expose the contradictory and contingent nature of ‘actually existing neoliberalism’ (Brenner & Theodore, 2002) leads to challenging our very understanding of neoliberalism in the context of contemporary urban planning practices.

This research examines a contemporary planning case in Toronto where tensions between policy visions and planning practices contribute to our understanding of neoliberal urbanism. Media, policy and interview discourses contribute to developing the nexus between neoliberal urbanism, creative class theory and gentrification in the case of 629 Eastern Avenue. The amalgamation of Toronto’s municipalities in 1998 resulting from the “Common Sense Revolution”, and the ‘creative turn’ in the 2000s are identified as two key evolutionary stages in Toronto’s neoliberal urbanism. The City’s contradictory positions as “grassroots” organizers, market actors and market regulators reveals their interventionist role in this case. The analytical imperative presented by this case study to expose the contradictory and contingent nature of ‘actually existing neoliberalism’ (Brenner & Theodore, 2002) leads to challenging our very understanding of neoliberalism in the context of contemporary urban planning practices.

Autentiškumo išsaugojimo problema stiprėja augant visuomenės siekiams dalyvauti kultūros paveldo apsaugoje. Spartėjanti istorinės aplinkos pertvarka skatina daugiau dėmesio skirti urbanistikos paveldui ir plėsti leistinos jos pokyčių ribos paieškas. Lietuvos urbanistikos paveldo vertingųjų savybių išsaugojimo būtinybė ir poreikis keisti jo pavidalo bruožus ir susiklosčiusias paskirtis yra vienas svarbiausių iššūkių dabartiniame mūsų didmiesčių teritorinės plėtros laikmetyje. / This scientific research introduces the method of evaluation of authenticity of Vilnius historic suburbs. Proposed model of the investigation could be applied for research of other urban heritage sites of similar origin. Established criteria could be adjusted for evaluation of other urban areas and should result particular indications of authenticity.

In a context of rapid urbanization and increasingly standardized built environments, urbanism must find new methods of creating appropriate conditions for the variability of contemporary urban life. The city, understood as a system of interconnected processes in constant change, offers a relational way of thinking about urban design. This thesis explores the concept of Relational Urbanism through a strategic design approach that engages the complexity of the site to create variability in the built environment by relating built form to landscape elements. This relational approach has particular potential in post-industrial sites, where challenging existing conditions and processes of remediation resist conventional methods of redevelopment. The thesis focuses on the Toronto Port Lands as a testing ground for this design approach, drawing on the site's industrial heritage to develop a landscape framework and a set of relational rules that will guide the emergence of a diverse urban environment able to change over time. A series of design strategies—remediation parks, urban delta, adapted industry, and differentiated fabric—rethink the challenges of the site as opportunities for public benefit, creating a variegated landscape for built form to respond to. In contrast to a singular static master plan, this method favours multiple flexible strategies that can be deployed incrementally, breaking down the scale of development and allowing it to be realized by a wide variety of stakeholders. Through this approach the thesis seeks to enable the city to intentionally but subtly guide its urban landscape toward diversity and allow its citizens to participate in its continued adaptation.

A living city must exist at every scale - from the urban to the pedestrian; the development of the 21st century Instant City, however, does not allow for this multiplicity of scales. These cities emerge instead in a type of hyper-reality, driven by the pursuit of capital and power. In the frenzy to grow, the resulting urban condition is alienating - one devoid of human scale. Looking to modern Dubai as an example of the dehumanized city, this thesis explores the reinterpretation of a traditional bazaar as a tool to challenge this existing form of urbanism. By way of an intervention that exploits the connective potential of pedestrian infrastructure, the project seeks to add a layer of social and physical complexity to a ‘dead’ city.

The modernist polykatikia typology (translating to multi-dwelling) arose in Athens after the population boom of the 1960s. Now sixty years later, the demands of the city have changed. No longer is there a need to build houses for people, but a need to focus on the workplace. As economic turmoil is pressuring Greece towards larger, more efficient operations, the thesis seeks to signify the importance of micro-economies of informal Athens. Given that energy and vibrancy are defining characteristics of the city, it considers how the workplace can intersect with public space to create new relationships in Athens. By curating talent, people and expertise which already exist in Athens, the aim is to propose workplaces based on resource sharing within underutilized zones in the city: an urban gesture which re-imagines the city blocks of Athens as a system of micro-agoras.

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