Environmental Studies

Events

Environmental Affairs Symposium - Panel: The Design Continuum

Date: October 11 2011 3:00pm - 4:30pm Location: Templeton Campus Center - Stamm Hall

Cities possess a spatial element.  Buildings are set at varying distances, blocks are left empty by intention, and constructions spread in every direction, even up and down.  How much of the built environment is planned, and how much of it arises organically from the countless interactions of thousands of agents? Are mega-cities on a sort of high speed evolutionary process?  What are the implications of holding to design versus just letting things happen?  From highly designed cities to places where zoning laws have never even been a consideration, this panel will examine how human intentionality, or lack thereof, shapes a space, and how that space in turn shapes the communities that dwell there.

Participating panelists: Janice Perlman (The Mega-Cities Project); James Rojas (Latino Urban Forum); Joseph Readdy (Portland State University)