The workshop "Manifesto for the Just City", now in its fifth edition, is a digital lecture and debate series comprising four online sessions with leading academics and practitioners in urban theory, urban planning and spatial justice.
Upon participation in the online lecture series, teams of students are invited to draft a Manifesto for the Just City, expressing their visions for sustainable, fair and inclusive cities.
This activity is open to Bachelor's and Master's students and doctoral candidates from any university in any area of studies related to the built environment (architecture, urban planning and design, urban geography, landscape design, environmental engineering, sociology and more).
A MANIFESTO FOR THE JUST CITY
The world faces several simultaneous intertwined shocks that affect us all: climate change, environmental collapse, war, pandemics, democratic erosion, and growing inequality are some of the most pressing public challenges we must face together. The idea of JUSTICE is at the core of our actions to address these challenges. Justice allows us to live together in society and cooperate with each other. For political philosopher John Rawls, "Justice is the first virtue of social institutions, as truth is of systems of thought. A theory, however elegant and economical, must be rejected or revised if it is untrue; likewise, laws and institutions, no matter how efficient and well-arranged, must be reformed or abolished if they are unjust".
In our rapidly urbanising world, it seems logical to seek the JUST CITY, a city where Justice can be expressed in the fair distribution of the burdens and benefits of our life together, where all can lead a happy, fruitful life, and where democracy flourishes.
The Just City is not only a place that allows all its citizens to live a healthy and accomplished life but also a city that allows the planet to regenerate itself and fosters civic life and democracy, affording all its inhabitants the RIGHT TO THE CITY.
To collect ideas and discuss ways to teach and learn how to make our cities more just, sustainable and inclusive, we want to hear from students worldwide.
We invite you and your friends to write a manifesto of no more than 1000 words laying out YOUR vision for the Just City. The manifesto should be written in groups of between 3 and 5 students from any discipline related to the built environment (spatial planning, urban geography, design, architecture, landscape design, engineering, etc.) The manifesto can be written in any language if the participants translate well. The manifesto should be illustrated (remember, images and text are complementary). We will only accept original pictures, drawings or illustrations produced by the participants (please be mindful of copyrights, even in collages!). There is no limit to the number of groups from one university. Groups can also be formed with students from several universities.
To help you write your manifesto, we invite you and your fellow students to participate in a 4-part online workshop sponsored and organised by several partner universities online. Each part of this activity will provide you with new ideas about critical urban development topics, like a mini-online course. In each session, you will have the opportunity to debate with like-minded people from other universities and be invited to write short paragraphs with them. We hope you have enough ideas and material to write a trailblazing manifesto with your group at the end of this process.
The best manifestos will be published in an open-access book.
All participants who submit a manifesto and participate in at least two online lectures will receive a certificate of participation from the Delft University of Technology.
To participate, you need to:
1. Fill out this form. [Everyone participating in this activity must register, and all members of your group must register separately.]
2. Find a group of colleagues from your university or other universities. Groups must have a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 5 participants. Groups can also include members of different universities.
2. There is no limit to the number of groups from the same university.
3. Get together with your group and discuss what should be in your manifesto. Here, you could make a start! (We will send you a "manual" on how to write a manifesto later on).
4. Take part in the four-part digital lecture series organised by TU Delft, which will take place over four Mondays in OCTOBER (a programme is in preparation and will be sent to you).
5. Submit your final text before the 1st of January 2025.
