Urban Nomads: Re-mixing the Demography of the City
Cities, nowadays, are scene of a fierce competition among citizens for resources. And as usual the rich and powerful have better access to jobs, amenities and facilities, even to natural features like micro-climate zones within metropolitan areas. This sort of inequality has been accompanied with urbanism for such a long time that even it has been manifested in settlement patterns of the city. Rich are usually living in the north, while south us home to poor and center is occupied with business and industry and agriculture roam the perimeter. It seems that we are bounded to these fixed patterns, and so does the efficiency of our cities. But for thousand years, human race had a more flexible way of living: Nomadism. The nomads travelled in order to have better access to resources, be it jobs, food or better climate. They invented kinds of mobile shelter and adapted a very flexible life style. They also developed a system of prediction and planning, upon the result of which they each time chose the destination, the trail and the how-to of their seasonal immigrations. Nowadays, metropolitan areas has become so vast that they contain several distinctive zones of settlement, work and even various micro-climates. This variety offers a lot of dynamics yet we are stuck to our fixed homes, workplaces and lifestyles. And in this manner we impose a lot of costs to our cities and to ourselves. What if we could live like an urban nomad, a wanderer inside the city walls? In this presentation I propose inner city migration and Nomadism as a way to cope with serious lack of resources in our urban areas. I’ll try to study both Bedouins and modern urban nomads, and assessing the advantages and obstacles of moving toward nomadic lifestyle, whether remixing the demography of our cities, and not their physical features, could improve our living conditions?
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Urban Nomads: Re-mixing the Demography of the City
- 1. Urban Nomads Remixing the Demography of the City Ehsan Bazafkan
- 2. Before Introduction! • Urban Nomads? Really?! • I want to present a VISION, not an idea, not a theory or a scientifically proven model
- 3. Introduction Why should we talk about Urban Nomads?
- 4. A little History “With the grace of god almighty, And the pressure of marketplace Humankind has urbanized himself!!!” … but our cities are … Problematic!
- 5. Problem! Most important deficiencies with our cities: • Expensive to manage • Lack of viable resources • Severe inequality • A burden to environment • Not FUN!
- 6. Why? “my opinion” FIXATION! Distance! Price! Distribution or Connection!
- 7. So What?! Radicalizing our lifestyle Sticking to a location is not the only available solution! We have more sustainable options: Nomadism
- 8. So What?! Radicalizing our lifestyle Sticking to a location is not the only available solution! We have more sustainable options: Nomadism
- 9. Nomads have been practiced a more dynamic, sustainable and adaptable system of resource planning and activity distribution for thousands of years.
- 10. Nomads It’s first and foremost a SURVIVAL STRATEGY. We are bored We are overcrowded We are limited and restricted CHANGE FREEDOM INTER- DEPENDENCE
- 11. Urban Nomads It’s first and foremost an ADOPTED LIFESTYLE The urban nomad is someone who refuses to settle down into just one home but instead chooses to live in multiple locations around the globe. In order to do this, the urban nomad relies on wireless technology to stay connected to a modern way of life.
- 12. Old Nomads vs. Modern Nomads Old Nomads Modern Nomads Nomadic Hunter gatherers Freeganism! Slum recyclers … Seasonal Construction Workers, Pastoral Nomads International Businessmen and women … Peripatetic Nomads Freelancers …
- 13. Useful Characteristics • Sharing and collaboration • Living Sustainably • Mixing and socializing yet Isolation • Conquering space • Adaptation . . . • They are always close to where they should!
- 14. Useful Characteristics • Sharing and collaboration • Living Sustainably MAXIMIZING THE MINIMAL • Mixing and socializing yet optional Isolation • Conquering space • Adaptation • Choice . . . • They are always close to where they should!
- 15. Proposition Planning and building for Urban Nomads … … and Living Like an Urban Nomad!
- 16. But …
- 18. La propriété, c'est le vol! ©Pierre-joseph Proudhon, 1840
- 20. Metropolitan Areas • Vast Areas • Job Diversity • Unequal Resource Distribution • Climate Diversity
- 23. Sport & Recreation Service & Sport & Administration Recreation Trade Industries Workshops Agriculture
- 24. Very Cold Nice! Not really cold Warm
- 25. Cool! Warm Hot Very Hot
- 26. Movable • Tents • Mobil Houses • Instant Houses • Parasite Housing
- 31. Somehow Fixed! • Time Sharing • Space Sharing (co-habitation) • Squatting • Being a Guest!
- 32. For Rent • Empty Houses • Foreclosed Houses • Renovated to rent • Abandoned Industrial Buildings • Renting Yard and Open Space
- 33. Some Neccessities • Broadband • Urban Amenities (public showers, warm spaces, Restrooms) • 24/7 Access to public space, for FREE! • Equipped Routes
- 34. Thank You! For attending. . . . And don’t forget to Share More!