Since 2009, this initiative has included an annual conference, organized by Saskia Sassen, through the Committee on Global Thought and the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP), with additional partners. These unique conferences draw heavily on participants from beyond academia, from scientists and activists to environmentalists and architects to interrogate contemporary urbanism from a multidimensional perspective. From economic violence to green architecture, events in this series are designed to push the boundaries of our understanding and conceptualization of the cities we live in.
Past Events
Mobilities in Cities: From Visible to Invisible
Apr. 11, 2014 at Columbia University, Avery Hall, Wood Auditorium with Diana Barco, Assaf Biderman, Adam Greenfield, Walter Hook, Hiroo Ichikawa, Greg Lindsay, Eric Miller, Xuefei Ren, Claire Roberge, Saskia Sassen, Richard Sennett, Doris Tarchopulos, and John Urry. Watch the videos.
Presence and Absence in the City
Oct. 12, 2012 at Columbia University, Avery Hall, Wood Auditorium with Michael Kimmelman, Ricky Burdett, Stephen Duncombe, Richard Sennett, Geoff Mulgan, Paul Gillieron, Greg Lindsay, Susanne Seitinger, Edwin Heathcote, Teddy Cruz, Sandi Hilal, Alessandro Petti, Saskia Sassen, Mamadou Diouf, Clémentine Deliss, Ioanna Theocharopoulou, Sudhir Venkatesh, Shamus Khan, Daniel Arsham, Jonah Bokaer, Elizabeth Diller, Andrew Todd. Read more about the event.
CHINA - Supercities and Mega-Migrations: China’s Urban Futures
Nov. 11, 2011 at Columbia University, Avery Hall, Wood Auditorium with Saskia Sassen, Thomas Buettner, Yao Lu, Ming Yan, Vishaan Chakrabarti, Xuefei Ren, Parag Khanna, Ayesha Khanna, Shohei Shigematsu, Gracia Liu-Farrer, Ling Huang, Adam Greenfield, Craig Hartman, Ioanna Theocharopoulou, Jiang Xu, Xiangming Chen, Chang Liu, Ackbar Abbas, and Douglas Wyatt Hocking. Watch the videos.
Africa, Cities and Eco-Crises
Oct. 1, 2010 at Columbia University, Avery Hall, Wood Auditorium with Saskia Sassen, Arthur H. Westing, Ties Rijcken, Shiv Someshwar, Richard Matthew, Rachel Armstrong, Greg Lindsay, P. Michael Pelken, Klaus Jacob, Irwin Redlener, Lindsay Hoshaw, Noah Toly, Dana R. Fisher, Amit Srivastrava, and Frances Moore Lappé. Watch the videos.
Cities and the New Wars
Sep. 25, 2009 at Columbia University, Avery Hall, Wood Auditorium with Arjun Appandurai, Elazar Barkan, Ted Byfield, Partha Chatterjee, Tony Conrad, Susan Crile, Claire Cutler, Ashley Dawson, James Der Derian, Gar Smith, Yasmine Ergas, Karen Jacobsen, Fiona Jeffries, Danny Kaplan, Jennifer S. Light, Peter Marcuse, Suketa Mehta, Rosalind C. Morris, Les Roberts, Saskia Sassen, Jane Schneider, Richard Sennett, Jessica Stern, Ida Susser, Gediminas Urbonas, Sudhir Venkatesh, Eyal Weizman, Florian Schneider, and Susanne Lang. Watch the videos.