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<title>Nancy and I just attended the opening of GLOBAL CITES, the summer
exhibit in the awesome Turbine Hall of the Tate Modern in London</title>
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<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='margin-bottom:6.0pt;text-align:center'><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><u><span style='font-size:18.0pt'>GLOBAL
CITIES<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><span
style='font-size:14.0pt'>Tate Modern, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">London</st1:City></st1:place><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><span
style='font-size:14.0pt'>20 June � 27 August, 2007<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Nancy and I just attended the opening on Tuesday of <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>GLOBAL
CITIES</span></b>, the summer exhibit in the awesome space of the <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Turbine Hall</b> of the <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Tate Modern</b> in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on"><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>London</b></st1:place></st1:City>.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>This exhibition is based on our dear friend
Ricky Burdett�s magnificent exhibit, �Cities, Architecture, and Society,� at
last Fall�s Biennale for Architecture in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Venice</st1:place></st1:City>.
(<i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>q.v.</i>, my review of La Biennale, <a
href="http://www.columbia.edu/~rr322/TheBiennale.htm">www.columbia.edu/~rr322/TheBiennale.htm</a>
)<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>GLOBAL CITES will be at the Tate
Modern from <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>20 June through 27 August</b>,
and I most strongly recommend that any of you who will be in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on">London</st1:City></st1:place> go see this incredible exhibition.</p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal>As one enters the Turbine Hall, one is confronted on the
bridge above the entrance to the exhibit with a huge graphic that announces the
central fact on which the show is based:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>��
</span>�In 2007 for the first time in history 50% of people on Earth are living
in cities.�<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Walking under the bridge,
one arrives in a darkened area where, on a wall to one�s right, a video
presentation of the overall themes of the exhibition is projected.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It is as beautiful and entrancing as it is
informative.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>One of it�s most memorable
facts is that of the 50% of the world�s population currently living in cities
(a number that is projected to grow to 75% by 2050), fully one third live in
slums.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It is clear that the nature of
the <!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shape id="_x0000_s1028" type="#_x0000_t75" style='position:absolute;
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</v:shape><![endif]--><![if !vml]><img width=205 height=307
src="GlobalCities_files/image004.jpg" align=right hspace=12 v:shapes="_x0000_s1028"><![endif]>world�s
cities is going to have a huge and profound impact on the nature of life in the
21<sup>st</sup> century.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Cities have the
potential to be environmentally sustainable, socially inclusive, and culturally
enriching�but they also can be quite the opposite.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>GLOBAL CITIES is an examination of some of
what works and some of what does not in some of the world�s most important
urban areas, with an eye toward those things that will make a difference in the
very nature of the world in which we are going to be living.</p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>GLOBAL CITIES was curated by Ricky Burdett (Centennial
Professor in Architecture and Urbanism at the London School of Economics,
advisor on architecture to the Mayor of <st1:City w:st="on">London</st1:City>,
and newly-appointed director of planning for <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">London</st1:place></st1:City>�s 2012 Olympics) and Sheena Wagstaff
(Chief Curator at the Tate Modern).<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>In
this version, the videos and some of the photography of the Biennale exhibit
are replaced by art�video and photographic�selected by the Tate Modern.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The body of the exhibit consists of a series
of seven rectangular solids�the outside surfaces of which are covered with
photographs, graphics, and text that provide the intellectual content of the
exhibit, while the interior spaces of which create darkened rooms on whose
inside walls the video art is projected�and free-standing walls on the
perimeter of the main floor of the exhibit on which other artwork and
information are presented.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The art
direction and design for the show were done by Angus Hyland and William Russell
of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">London</st1:City></st1:place>�s
Pentagram, and several of the photographs are from Pentagram�s website (<a
href="http://blog.pentagram.com/archives/2007/06/new_work_global_cities.php">http://blog.pentagram.com/archives/2007/06/new_work_global_cities.php</a>
) </p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>From the original fifteen cities examined at the Biennale,
GLOBAL CITIES presents ten:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><st1:City
w:st="on">Cairo</st1:City>, <st1:City w:st="on">Istanbul</st1:City>, <st1:City
w:st="on">Johannesburg</st1:City>, <st1:City w:st="on">London</st1:City>, <st1:City
w:st="on">Los Angeles</st1:City>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Mexico</st1:country-region>
City, Mumbai, <st1:City w:st="on">S�o Paulo</st1:City>, <st1:City w:st="on">Shanghai</st1:City>,
and <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Tokyo</st1:City></st1:place>.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It analyzes five major issues of urban
development (the following descriptions of which being excerpted from the guide
to the show):<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:3.0pt;
margin-left:.75in;text-indent:-.5in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2;tab-stops:list .5in'><![if !supportLists]><span
style='font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol;mso-bidi-font-family:
Symbol'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>�<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>
</span></span></span><![endif]>Size<br>
This section explores some of the most populous city regions of the world�the
greater <st1:City w:st="on">Tokyo</st1:City> area (the largest urban region in
the world today), and the expanding metropolitan zones of <st1:City w:st="on">Mexico
City</st1:City> and <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">S�o Paulo</st1:place></st1:City>.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Each city displays different spatial
characteristics and varying levels of success in managing urban change through
governance and policies to contain sprawl.</p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:3.0pt;
margin-left:.75in;text-indent:-.5in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2;tab-stops:list .5in'><![if !supportLists]><span
style='font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol;mso-bidi-font-family:
Symbol'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>�<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>
</span></span></span><![endif]>Speed<br>
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speed with which many of the world�s cities are growing affects their social
and physical structure dramatically.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The
five cities featured in this section�<st1:City w:st="on">Cairo</st1:City>, <st1:City
w:st="on">Istanbul</st1:City>, <st1:City w:st="on">London</st1:City>, <st1:City
w:st="on">Los Angeles</st1:City>, and <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Shanghai</st1:City></st1:place>�are
experiencing growth at a different pace, and absorbing it in different
manners:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>some are growing upwards,
others are growing outwards.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The speed
of urban change is fuelled by natural increase as well as rural-to-urban
migration, with people flocking to cities in search of jobs and social
opportunities. (The graphic at the right indicates the growth of these cities
in people <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>per hour</i>!)</p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:3.0pt;
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Symbol'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>�<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>
</span></span></span><![endif]>Form<br>
This section provides an overview of the distinctly different urban forms of
five cities:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><st1:City w:st="on">Istanbul</st1:City>,
<st1:City w:st="on">Johannesburg</st1:City>, <st1:City w:st="on">London</st1:City>,
Mumbai, and <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Tokyo</st1:City></st1:place>.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Satellite photographs illustrate the
diversity and complexity of human impact on these cities, as physically manifest
in street widths, blocks and plot sizes, and distribution of open green
space.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Urban form�the DNA of the
city�bears the <!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shape id="_x0000_s1030" type="#_x0000_t75"
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of the flows and forces that shape our daily lives.</p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:3.0pt;
margin-left:.75in;text-indent:-.5in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2;tab-stops:list .5in'><![if !supportLists]><span
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</span></span></span><![endif]>Density<br>
Good urban design can produce desirable neighborhoods in cities across the
world by balancing dense development with access to open spaces and good
transport.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Dense urban environments can
create sustainable cities�<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The four
models shown in this section compare, at the same scale, the number of people
living within the administrative boundaries of four of the ten cities�<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The peaks show high residential densities,
with the largest number of people concentrated in a square kilometer.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>They range from the high density of <st1:City
w:st="on">Cairo</st1:City> and Mumbai to the more dispersed, but bounded <st1:City
w:st="on">London</st1:City> (contained by the Green Belt) and the sprawling <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Mexico City</st1:place></st1:City>.</p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:3.0pt;
margin-left:.75in;text-indent:-.5in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2;tab-stops:list .5in'><![if !supportLists]><span
style='font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol;mso-bidi-font-family:
Symbol'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>�<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>
</span></span></span><![endif]>Diversity<br>
In an urban context, diversity�the level of variety within a city�is usually
interpreted as its ethnic and racial composition.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>But diversity has a much broader range of
indicators:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>the spread of ages and
incomes, education levels, the range of employment sectors, and people born in
the city versus newcomers�<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Urban
segregation can take various physical forms, from fortified residential
districts to business enclaves� Better integrated cities are usually designed
around shared facilities, such as public parks or accessible public
transportation systems, and a more continuous urban grain that connects rather
than separates communities.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>A variety of
different patterns are examined here, with reference to�<st1:City w:st="on">Johannesburg</st1:City>,
<st1:City w:st="on">London</st1:City>, <st1:City w:st="on">Los Angeles</st1:City>,
<st1:City w:st="on">S�o Paulo</st1:City>, and <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Shanghai</st1:place></st1:City>.</p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>The art work selected to provide a visual �feel� for the
cities in the exhibition is mostly quite extraordinary.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Some of the video installations are true
masterpieces:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>my favorites are Yang
Zhenzhong�s <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Let�s Puff</i> (2002;
presented on two opposing walls�the one wall running a scene of the crowds
strolling on Shanghai�s pedestrian thoroughfare Nanjing Dong Lu, with the
second wall showing a young woman taking deep breaths and blowing toward the
first wall�and the people on the first wall apparently being blown backwards,
slowed down, or speeded up by the woman�s blowing at them) and Francis Al�s�s <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Railings</i> (2004; with alternating
repetitions on each of three adjacent walls of footage of<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>the artist walking around three of London�s
wonderful squares, while running a drum stick across the metal railings, gates,
pillars, and even cars lining each square�resulting in a constantly mutating
montage of visual imagery and percussive rhythms).<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shape id="_x0000_s1035"
type="#_x0000_t75" style='position:absolute;margin-left:916pt;margin-top:0;
width:258.75pt;height:129.75pt;z-index:5;mso-position-horizontal:right;
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<v:imagedata src="GlobalCities_files/image009.jpg" o:title="gursky_los_angeles"/>
<w:wrap type="square"/>
</v:shape><![endif]--><![if !vml]><img width=345 height=173
src="GlobalCities_files/image010.jpg" align=right hspace=12 v:shapes="_x0000_s1035"><![endif]>Other
video installations, while less artistic, are powerful in their content or
meaning, like Osman Bozkurt�s excellent piece <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>Auto-Park/The Highway Parks of Istanbul</i> (2003; a documentary about
small green spaces in the midst of life-threateningly dangerous encircling
highways, that are used for �relaxation� by residents who risk life and limb to
get to them only because of how deprived they are of access to any other open
space at all).<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>And some of the
photography chosen by the Tate is truly breath-takingly beautiful�the most
magnificent example being Andreas Gursky�s <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on"><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Los Angeles</i></st1:place></st1:City><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'> </i>(1999).<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>It is unfortunate, however, that some of the photographs from the
original Biennale exhibit were not presented in equally high-resolution
form�most notably Luiz Leir�o Vieira�s incredible photos of luxury apartment
buildings overlooking the impoverished favela in S�o Paulo ironically named
Parais�polis (Paradise City). </p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>The information presented in GLOBAL CITIES�graphically as
well as in text form�is riveting:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>it is
totally comprehensible, profoundly interesting, excitingly provocative, and of
obviously critical importance.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It is
rare indeed to find an exhibition that it at one and the same time so
informative and so enjoyable.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It is a
thoroughly engaging experience that will draw you in and keep you entranced for
as much time as you have to give to it.</p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>The only generally unsuccessful parts of the exhibition�and
they do not figure very large in the overall experience of it (many of them
actually being on the peripheral second story of the exhibition)�are the
commissioned projects by architects.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>Zaha Hadid�s <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Form Informing
Urbanism�Parametric Urbanism</i> was so cryptically written that it was
virtually incomprehensible:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>until Ricky
explained to me that it was a projection across certain conceptual building
types of the eastward expansion of London along the Thames Gateway, I had no
idea what it was about.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Rem Koolhaas�s <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Dilemmas in the Evolution of the City</i>
was a rather pretentious and ultimately shallow piece of intellectual
fluff.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>Mixtacity</i>, a fanciful work by Nigel Coates, was at least quite
amusing in its vision of the Thames Gateway with spools of yarn, giant hands,
sugar cubes, and other found objects used to represent buildings of humorous
cultural diversity and meaning.</p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>To understand just how engaging and successful GLOBAL CITIES
is, allow me to relate an observation I made on the third day of<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>its being open to the public.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Nancy and I returned that day to spend a
couple of more hours absorbing the richness of the exhibit.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It was a Friday, in the early afternoon, and
the Turbine Hall was packed with visitors to the exhibit.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The visitors were of all ages, and they were
spending <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>hours</i> lingering in the
Turbine Hall, confronting the images and texts, the meanings and emotions of
this exhibit: intently looking, absorbing, animatedly discussing with
each other (in more languages than I was able even to recognize, by the way),
and often taking extensive notes.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I even
watched several visitors photographing passages of descriptive text! This
clearly is an exhibition which is generating profound reactions.</p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>For a fuller look at the exhibition, you may wish to view
the extensive presentation of it on the Tate Modern�s own website, at <a
href="http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/globalcities/default.shtm">www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/globalcities/default.shtm</a>
.</p>
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