Symposium: The Citizen and the City

Symposium: The Citizen and the City

Dublin is currently experiencing a sustained period of growth and development on a scale not seen in two hundred years.

In the past decade, the centre of the city has been transformed while its edges are expanding rapidly. The city’s commercial and cultural life has rarely been so healthy. And yet there is a growing sense of unease and dissatisfaction about this ‘urban renaissance’. Rising property prices and rents have made finding a place to live increasingly difficult. Despite its affluence and confidence, the city is still beset by homelesness and poverty. Traffic congestion has made commuting and moving around the city a frustrating experience. Dublin’s infrastructure is stretched to its limit. While these and other problems endure, the future of the city must remain to some extent uncertain.

At the beginning of the new millenium the capital is faced with many fundamental questions: What is the city for? How should it function? Whose interests does it serve? How sustainable is current development and where will it lead? How big is the city, and how big will it become? What is the place of the citizen in this redefined city?

On January 29th, an open symposium entitled ‘The Citizen and the City’ will tease out these issues and discuss the choices that are being made for the city. Contributions will include ‘urban voices’ from the spheres of planning, property development, politics, marginalised groups and architecture. Participants from Britain, the Netherlands and the United States will open up comparisons with urban initiatives and debates happening elsewhere. As the title suggests, the sense of connection between the citizen and the city will form the central theme of the day. Vital to any urban culture is a sense of both ownership and belonging among its citizens. The symposium presents a challenge to those who control and shape the built environment to define strategies and mechanisms which enable such a healthy urban culture to flourish.

In recognition of architecture’s vital role and reponsibilities in the development of the city, this event is being co-organised by the Architectural Association of Ireland and University College Dublin School of Architecture. The symposium will take place from 9.30am till 6pm on Saturday 29th January 2000 in the School of Architecture, UCD, Richview, Clonskeagh Road, Dublin 14. Admission is free and all are welcome.

For further information contact:
Conor Moloney, AAI President, t: 4911725, e: cm@clubi.ie
Dr. Hugh Campbell, UCD, t: 7062757, f: 2837778, e: hugh.campbell@ucd.ie

Keynote speaker:
Saskia Sassen, Sociologist, University of Chicago

The role of the architect:
Derek Tynan, architect
Don Murphy, architect, Rotterdam
Adam Caruso, architect, London

Models of partnership:
David Torpey, Zoe Developments & Shelley McNamara, Grafton Architects
Barra Mac Ruairí, Urban Splash Projects Ltd., Manchester
Ingo Kumic & Karen O’Keeffe, Elephant and Castle Regeneration, London

Strategies and mechanisms:
Andrew McLaran, Centre for Urban Studies, TCD
Claire Farrell, Combat Poverty Agency
Paul Leech, Architect

The citizen and the city:
Colm Tóibín, Novellist and Journalist
Maureen Gilbert, National Rehabilitation Board
Áine Ryan, School of Architecture, UCD