Apologies for cross-posting. Please see below/attached info on the Oxford Programme for the Future of Cities Research Seminar, to be held on Tuesday, 4 February 2014, 2-4pm, 64 Banbury Road (Oxford, OX2 6PN). All are welcome, no registration required.

"Comparative Perspectives on Urban Change in Informal Settlements: Complexity, planning, and gentrification in Turkey and Portugal"

Heritage Preservation and Neighbourhood Upgrading (aka) the Trojan Horse of Concealing and Legitimizing Urban Regeneration and Gentrification
Ebru Soytemel, University of Oxford
This paper examines the how discourses about heritage are used in urban rehabilitation projects to conceal or legitimize urban interventions and gentrification. Using the Fener-Balat Rehabilitation Project (FBRP) in Istanbul as a case study, the paper scrutinizes the impacts of the project in terms of improvements to historic buildings, displacements of households and urban rent speculation in the context of everyday strategies of neighbourhood reclaiming.

Making the most of informal communities, empowering for justice and equity
Lia T. Vasconcelos, New University of Lisbon
This paper reflects on the meaning and value of collaborative planning in government-led processes of urban rehabilitation of multi-ethnic, self-constructed neighborhoods. Using the case study of the Cova da Moura neighborhood in the Lisbon metro area, the paper evaluates a multi-stakeholder initiative seeking to develop an urban rehabilitation action plan for the neighborhood. It discusses how the integration of formal and informal modes of decision-making led to the strengthening of local community networks, improved information sharing, and the reinforcement of the governing capacity of local institutions and community members.

Planning in a context of informal settlements: methodological challenges of a complex problem
M. Helena Farrall, New University of Lisbon
This paper explores the use of complex adaptive hierarchical systems principles and associated methodologies in the planning processes involving informal settlements. Using the Cova da Moura neighborhood case study, the paper shows how planners can benefit from the use of network analysis mixed methodologies. The paper also discusses how transdisciplinarity is an essential component of the planning process in a context of complexity.

About the Speakers:
Ebru Soytemel is an Associate Fellow for the Oxford Programme for the Future of Cities, University of Oxford. Her research interests focus on social inequality, cultural class analysis, urban theory, social-spatial dislocation. She is currently the Principal Investigator for the research project “Urban Informality and Property Rights in Istanbul,” which explores how urban transformation projects affect the structure of property ownership in informal housing areas and the tactics and strategies generated by different individuals (property owners and tenants) against public authorities and property developers. Her publications have contributed to on-going debates on gentrification, self-help networks among the urban poor, sense of belonging, place making and symbolic borders among different groups.

Lia T. Vasconcelos is a Lecturer at the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, New University of Lisbon (FCT-UNL), Portugal and the Principal Investigator and Coordinator for Policy and Governance at the Institute of Marine Research (IMAR), Portugal. Her research focuses on new forms of decision-making and governance in urban planning and environmental management, seeking social change and empowerment. She is currently the Principal Investigator for the project “PosMARGov,” a follow-up project of the award-winning project “MARGov – Collaborative Governance of the Protected Marine Areas,” which focused on developing a model of collaborative governance for the Arrábida Marine Park with active participation of local actors and institutions. She was the Principal Facilitator for the project “Cova da Moura – Process of Socio-Territorial Participatory Intervention.” She has published widely on the topics of collaborative governance, public participation in planning processes, environmental citizenship, and sustainability.

M. Helena Farrall is a doctoral candidate in Human Ecology at the CESNOVA, Faculty of Social and Human Sciences, New University of Lisbon, Portugal. Her research focuses on complex adaptive hierarchical systems frameworks, self-organization, and urban resilience. Her doctoral dissertation focuses on the evaluation of intervention programmes in informal settlements from a resilience framework perspective. She has an extensive experience in applied ecology and ecological impact assessment and contributes to urban sustainable development practices as part of the “Sustainable Construction Living Lab,” a member of the European Network of Living Labs. She has also published on the topics of urban sustainability and urban resilience.

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