Informal Urbanism launch and public lecture

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Elisabeth Murdoch Theatre

  • Launch

Professor Kim Dovey and Dr Crystal Legacy invite you to the launch of InfUr-, the newest research hub in the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning. The Hub is an assemblage of researchers and PhD students who share a commitment to exploring the role of urban informality in the creative production of the city. Learn more about the Hub here.

Public lecture

Informal Urbanism = Democracy?
Mark Purcell, University of Washington 
Time: 6.30-7.30pm
Venue: Elisabeth Murdoch theatre

“I am not an anarchist, but I often get mistaken for one” writes Mark Purcell, who urges us to reject State-led urban planning in favour of a more democratic approach to building our cities. For Purcell, democracy is a project where people manage their affairs for themselves instead of entrusting corporations or the State to do it for them. In this provocative lecture, Purcell will argue that the project of democracy resonates with the phenomenon of informal urbanism, where inhabitants are imagining, building, managing and improving the city themselves.

Mark Purcell is a Professor in the Department of Urban Design & Planning at the University of Washington where he studies cities, political theory, and democracy. He is the author of The Down-Deep Delight of Democracy (2013), and articles in various journals, including Urban Geography, Urban Studies, and Planning Theory.