RESEARCHING THE CONTEMPORARY CITY

The city is perhaps the most complex of all human constructs. In the 21st. century when cities are bigger than ever, and the majority of the worlds population now live in urban areas, the need for research into this complexity to address the large scale challenges of urban life has never been greater. This collection of research studies, from different parts of the world, brings together case studies, underpinned by theory, to contribute to the urgent search to make our cities more just, more liveable, more accesible, more participatory and more democratic: in short, more human places to live and work.

Preface: In Happiness Inn

Introduction: Researching the Contemporary City Peter Kellett and Jaime Hernández-García

The Creation and Representation of the Urban

-Cairo: A Deconstruction Reading of Space
Mona Abdelwahab
-Transforming the Desert into a Liveable Place: The Egyptian Experience
Tamer Abdelfattah Ahmed
-Negotiating Disabling Environments: A Collective Movement in Bangkok
Antika Sawadsri

The Production and Transformation of the Informal

-Technology and Participation: Geo-information Tools in Setdement Upgrading
Musyimi Mbatbi
-Status, Capital and Identiry: From Informal to Formal Housing in Bangkok
Rittirong Chutapruttikorn

The Construction and Appropriation of Public Spaces
-People Shaping Public Spaces
Popular Urban Design Processes in Mexico
Mauricio Hernández- Bonilla
-The Production of Informal Urban Space: The Barrios of Bogota
Jaime Hernández-Garcia
-Converging Heritage Approaches in Historie Centres: The Danzón and the Zócalo of Veracruz, Mexico Brenda Galván-López

The Transformation, Use and Meaning of Home

-About Domestie Architecture: From Rural to Urban in Indonesia
Muhammad Faqih
-Space as Capital: Household Adaptation Strategies in Home-Based Enterprises in Indonesia
Agam Marsoyo
-Home- Based Livelihoods and Housing Policy: Urban Informality in India and Indonesia Peter Kellett

Contributors