Today, 2.8 billion people live in the cities, equalling half of the entire population. By the year 2030, 60% of the global population will be urban dwellers according to the United Nations.
Uncontrolled urban growth is a global thematic; we intend to discuss it holistically and in a multidisciplinary approach.
Local expertise can contribute to a solution finding process in regards to potentials and threats that come with the theory and practice of urbanization processes. Conventional methods are compared to unconventional methods that may already be successful practice in certain parts of the world.
In this context, Costa Rica serves as a case study for us: a country typically known for its protected nature, which already has more than 60% of its people living in urban areas. There is an upcoming awareness of the problems related to the uncontrolled large-scale low-density suburban sprawl that is continuously substituting the nature surrounding the city and preventing services from efficiently reaching the urban fragments that grew more and more distant. So far, no centralized strategy or vision has been implemented in order to deal with the consequences resulting from this development.
The situation is compared to the international perspectives of a cross section of multidisciplinary practitioners working on the city. The research results in a series of national and international publications as well as lectures, conferences and university workshops.
Credit
The research program was formulated by Oliver Schütte and Marije van Lidth de Jeude.
The socio cultural discourse in Costa Rica was developed in collaboration with the Facultad Latino Americana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO).
The academic workshops are developed in collaboration with the Veritas University, the Technological University, as well as the University of Costa Rica.
San Jose, Costa Rica, 2006 – 2009.