Cities for All
Manifesto 2023
The workshop “Manifesto for the Just City”, now in its fourth edition, is a digital lecture and debate series composed of four online sessions with leading academics and practitioners in the fields of 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 what their visions for cities that are sustainable, fair and inclusive for all.
This activity is organised by TU Delft, in partnership with IHS Erasmus University of Rotterdam (The Netherlands), the University of Illinois, the Winston-Salem State University, Morgan State University (US), The Cape Peninsula University of Technology (South Africa) and more.
This activity is supported by Pakhuis de Zwijger, a unique cultural organisation which opened its doors in 2006 and has grown to be an independent platform for and by the city of Amsterdam and its inhabitants.
THE ACTIVITY
We invite you and your colleagues to work in groups of 3-5 people to write a MANIFESTO of no more than 1000 words laying out your vision for the Just City. The manifesto can be written in any language, as long as a good English translation is provided by the participants.
In order to help you write your manifesto, we invite you and your group of fellow students to take part in a 4-part online lecture series organised by TU Delft and several partner universities online.
In each session, you will have the opportunity to debate with like-minded people from other universities and to put your ideas into writing. At the end of this exercise, we hope you will have enough ideas and material to write a trailblazing manifesto with your group.
The manifestos will be published in an open access book. Previous Manifestos have been released in two books published by the Delft University of Technology Open Source books (see below).
All participants submitting a manifesto and taking part in the online lectures will be provided with a certificate of participation by the Delft University of Technology.
For inquiries, please contact Roberto Rocco at r.c.rocco@tudelft.nl
The 2024 programme is in preparation
Listen to Juliana Gonçalves explain the importance of the manifestos
Registrations are open
Call for Manifestos
A MANIFESTO FOR THE JUST CITY
The world is facing a number of simultaneous intertwined shocks that affect us all: climate change, environmental collapse, war, pandemics, democratic erosion and growing inequality are just some of the most pressing public challenges we must face together. At the core of our actions to address these challenges is the idea of JUSTICE. Justice is what allows us to live together in society and to 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 for the JUST CITY, a city where justice can be expressed in the fair distribution of the burdens and benefits of our life together, and where all can lead a happy fruitful life, and where democracy cab flourish.
But for us, 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 a city that fosters civic life and democracy, affording all its inhabitants the RIGHT TO THE CITY.
In order 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 from all over the world.
We wish to 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, as long as a good English translation is provided by the participants. The manifesto can also 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!).
In order to help you write your manifesto, we invite you and your group of fellow students to take part in a 4-part online workshop sponsored organised by several partner universities online. Each part of this activity will provide you with new ideas about key topics of urban development, like a mini-online course. In each session, you will have the opportunity to debate with like-minded people from other universities and will be invited to write short paragraphs with them. At the end of this process, we hope you will have enough ideas and material to write a trailblazing manifesto with your group.
The best manifestos will be published in an open access book.
All participants submitting a manifesto and taking part in at least two online lectures will be provided with a certificate of participation by the Delft University of Technology.
In order to participate, you need to:
1.Fill out the online form (black button on this page)
2.Find a group of colleagues from your university or from other universities. Groups must have 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? Maybe 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 Urban Thinkers Campus organised by TU Delft, which will take place over four Mondays in OCTOBER 2023 (a link will be sent to you).
5.Submit your final text before the 1st of January 2024.
MANIFESTO FOR THE JUST CITY BOOK SERIES
(free download)
REGISTER HERE
“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.”
Martin Luther King Jr.
Manifesto for the just city
past speakers
LEILANI FARHA
the Shift
Leilani Farha is a Canadian lawyer who is the Global Director of THE SHIFT, a housing initiative. Between June 2014 and April 2020, she was the United Nations special rapporteur on adequate housing.
EFRAT COHEN-BAR
BIMKOM
Co-executive Director at BIMKOM Planners for Planning Rights, an Israeli human rights organisation formed in 1999 by a group of professional planners and architects, in order to strengthen democracy and human rights in the field of spatial planning and housing policies, in Israel and in Area C of the West Bank, which is under Israeli control.
STIJN OOSTERLYNCK
University of Antwerp
Stijn Oosterlynck is Professor in Urban Sociology at the University of Antwerp, Department of Sociology. He is the chair of the Centre for Research on Environmental and Social Change (CRESC, formerly OASeS) and the Antwerp Urban Studies Institute. He teaches courses on urban studies, poverty and social inequality.
Tainá de Paula
City of Rio de Janeiro
Architect, urban planner, urban struggle activist, licensed councillor for the Workers’ Party and current Secretary of Environment and Climate of the city of Rio de Janeiro. Specialist in Cultural Heritage and Master in Urbanism, she works on projects to strengthen and amplify the voice of the minorities in the city.
Suraj Yengde
Harvard University
Dr. Suraj Yengde (सुरज एंगडे) is one of India’s leading scholars and public intellectuals. Named as one of the “25 Most Influential Young Indian” by GQ magazine and the “Most influential Young Dalit” by Zee, Suraj is an author of the bestseller Caste Matters and co-editor of award winning anthology The Radical in Ambedkar. Caste Matters was recently featured in the prestigious “Best Nonfiction Books of the Decade” list by The Hindu. Caste Matters is being translated in seven languages. Suraj holds a research associate position with the department of African and African American Studies.
MONA FAWAZ
American University of Beirut
Mona Fawaz is Professor in Urban Studies and Planning at the American University of Beirut. She recently co-founded the Beirut Urban Lab at the American University of Beirut, a regional research center invested in working towards more inclusive, just, and viable cities. Mona is also the director of the Social Justice and the City research program based at the Issam Fares Institute of Public Policy at AUB.
Faranak Miraftab
university of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at the Department of Urban & Regional Planning at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Professor Miraftab is an urban scholar of globalisation. Her scholarship is situated at the intersection of sociology, geography, planning, and feminist studies, using case study and ethnographic methodologies. Her research concerns social and institutional aspects of urban development and planning that address basic human needs including housing and urban infrastructure and services that support it.
CLARISSA FREITAS
Universidade Federal do Ceará
Clarissa Freitas is a scholar in the field of Urban Planning affiliated to Federal University of Ceará (UFC) in Fortaleza, Brazil . Professor Freitas works at the intersection of political economy of urbanization and urban design policies. Recently, she has been researching on the challenges that informal settlements pose to planning policies. She spent 2015/2016 academic year as a visiting professor at DURP/UIUC , and since 2018 she holds the position of academic coordinator of the Graduate Program of Architecture, Urbanism and Design at UFC. She teaches undergrad and grad courses on Landscape Planning; Urban Design and Planning Theory, and contributes to urban movements struggles for Right to the City.
romola Sanyal
London school of Economics
Dr Romola Sanyal is Associate Professor in Urban Geography at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She joined the Department of Geography and Environment in 2013 having held lectureships in Planning at Newcastle University (2010-2012) and University College London at the Development Planning Unit (2012-2013). She has also held the position of inaugural Postdoctoral Fellow at the Chao Centre for Asian Studies at Rice University (2008-2009) and been a Visiting Fellow at the Open University (2009-2010). She has a PhD in Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley, an MSc in Geography from LSE and a B.A in City and Regional Planning from the University of California, Berkeley.
Gynna MIllan
Universidad del Valle
Gynna Millan Franco is an urban designer and researcher specializing on smart cities in the global south, with a focus on informal settlements. Gynna’s work incorporates participatory approaches such as video, design, and photography. She works as a postdoctoral researcher at Colombia’s Universidad del Valle on the project “Building Equitable Urban Futures in Transition Areas in Cali and Havana (GREAT).” She has taught at the Polytechnic University of Valencia, University College London, and the National University of Colombia as a visiting professor.
Vanesa Castán-Broto
university of sheffield
Vanesa Castán-Broto is a professorial fellow at the Urban Institute, University of Sheffield. In 2016 she received the Philip Leverhulme Prize for contributions to Geography. In 2013 she received a United Nations Award for Lighthouse Activities that contribute to fight climate change with a focus on the urban poor. Her previous books include An Urban Politics of Climate Change and the edited collection Participatory Planning for Climate Compatible Development. She was also a contributing author to UN-Habitat’s 2016 World Cities Report.
FAIZA DARKHANI
Afghan Academic & Activist
Faiza Darkhani is a dedicated environmentalist and women’s rights advocate from Afghanistan. She previously served as the Director of the National Environmental Protection Agency and Assistant Professor at Badakhshan University. She graduated from the Faculty of Design and Architecture at UMP Malaysia. Her impactful work earned her a spot on BBC’s “100 Influential Women around the World” list in 2021. She continues her work as a researcher in Germany and has been actively volunteering for women’s rights and environmental causes.
TITUS KALOKI
Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) Kenya Office
Titus Kaloki is Programme Coordinator at FES Kenya Office, where he leads the Just City programme, which engages the concept of a social and inclusive just city to facilitate innovative discussions among political decision-makers, civil society representatives and others on issues such as affordable housing, fair and clean public transport, and meaningful civic engagement in urban spaces.
NURHAN ABUJIDI
Nurhan Abujidi is an Associate Professor at Zuyd University of Applied Sciences, where she is the Head of the Smart Urban Redesign research centre. Her work within the research centre focuses on the ambition to contribute to the region’s energy-neutral, circular and vital neighbourhoods. Abujidi was a professor in international, post-graduate and Master’s programmes at the Belgian universities Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and other Spanish universities. Her expertise includes urban renewal, public space revitalisation and tactical urbanism.
HIBA BOU AKAR
Columbia university
Hiba Bou Akar is an Assistant Professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation. Her research focuses on planning in post-conflict cities, the question of urban security and violence, and the role of religious political organisations in the making of cities. She has also worked as an architect and urban planner in Beirut.
MONTAGU MURRAY
NOVA Institute, South Africa
Montagu Murray attained a DD degree in Systematic Theology from the University of Pretoria, South Africa. His academic studies included pre-graduate studies in Minnesota in the USA and post-graduate research at the universities of Utrecht and Leiden in the Netherlands. He is a Research Associate of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Pretoria. He is particularly interested intransdisciplinary approaches to poverty alleviation, quality of life improvement and sustainable lifestyles. He is a Director of the Nova Institute. This not-for-profit organisation endeavours to co-create, with household and networks, ways to improve the quality of life of low-income households in Southern Africa.
Martine Doppen
ACTIVIST RECLAME FOSSIELVRIJ
Martine, is an influential, energetic activist who fights for a clean and fair world, including at Milieudefensie. This young queer woman has an idealistic vision of climate justice and radical justice.
Martine was born 27 years ago in a small village in the Achterhoek region. Eighteen years later, as a student in Amsterdam, she found the space to speak out against gender inequality, racism and the climate crisis. While studying International Public Health at the VU, she worked on innovative projects in-home care. She set up a training programme on climate justice and worked on the climate case against Shell. She is one of the boosters of the 2019 climate march and supported school strikes.