4.001J/11.004J
Cityscope 2008: Cities at Risk in Peru
Instructor: Professors J. Phillip Thompson and John E. Fernández
Telephone: , 617-253-5266
Office:
, 5-418B
Send e-mail: , fernande@mit.edu
Units: 3-0-9
Level:
Prerequisites: permission of instructors
This class is an approved practicum in DUSP
Visiting Scholar Sebastiao Mendonca Ferreira, Carlos Javier Espinoza-Toro
TAs: Lakshmi Sridaran and David Quinn
11-12.30pm, Room 3-401
First Class Meeting: Tuesday, Feb 5 @ 11am in Room 3-401
CityScope examines the symbiotic relationship between complexity in the urban world and human value systems. The city, as possibly the most complex anthropogenic construct, is both a direct manifestation of our enormous organizational ambitions and a host to all of our philosophical, social, political and economic drives. Cities require the gathering, storage and distribution of huge amounts of resources guided by the laws, customs, prejudices and peculiarities of our institutions and economic structures. Both of these types of physical and nonphysical systems coexist, interact, interfere and continuously orbit around one another as cities expand, contract and evolve.
Cityscope 2008 will address a shortlist of issues critical to the reconstruction of Peruvian cities recently affected by devastating earthquakes. On August 15, 2007, an earthquake of magnitude 7.9 devastated the Southern coast of Peru, claiming more than 500 lives and destroying more than 80% of homes in the region. This disaster has only compounded problems that Peru as a nation, and especially its cities, has faced for decades. In the last five years, decentralization of the national government has led to the creation of regional governments and regional and local institutions. However, these institutions of weak public administrative capacity have created a fractured redevelopment process that has resulted in thousands of residents who remain without homes or livelihoods.
Cityscope 2008 will focus on the physical and nonphysical urban systems of contemporary Peru. Professors Thompson and Fernandez and Visiting Scholar Sebastiao Mendonca Ferreira and Carlos Javier Espinoza-Toro have established a working relationship with a group of researchers at the Universidad del Pacifico in Lima, Peru. In addition, meetings have been held with the mayor of Tambo de Mora, a small town on the Peruvian coast badly damaged by the earthquakes. It is our intention to work toward engaging with these and other local stakeholders in thoughtful and productive studies that assist with the reconstruction of Tambo de Mora.
The course is organized into six topic areas. Working groups will be formed to produce results that will be useful in each area. The six areas are:
1. The Social and Political Context of Tambo de Mora and Peru: preparing popular educational materials focused on property rights in developing countries; the role of property rights in planning; formal and informal property rights; alternative models of land and property ownership.
2. Sustainable Urban Construction in Seismic Zones: preparing a variety of construction and design prototypes for the city of Tambo de Mora. Adobe, caña, concrete, and brick will be assessed and used in producing alternative designs for housing.
3. The Relationship of Infrastructure to Health and Civil Society: preparing educational materials (planning tools) regarding the relation of water, sanitation, electricity, and housing to health and community improvement.
4. What Do You See?: Visual Interpretation and Social Analysis – how our own “cultural obligations” present problems and opportunities in visual interpretation.: developing photo narratives on Tambo de Mora to assist in popular education/fundraising.
5. Systems Model for Tracking Urban Resource Consumption: developing a practical guide for envisioning future scenarios for development of the city of Tambo de Mora and the region.
6. Building Government Capacity in Developing Countries: organizing fundraising/public information to support local Tambo de Mora government; developing training materials for Tambo de Mora government/civic leaders.
Currently, undergraduates will travel to Peru during Spring break. The timing for graduate student travel to Peru is under discussion.
Download the syllabus
