The proposal relates the renewal of the local scale at the age of globalization, within the world-system, commonly portrayed through the glorification of global cities. For decades, those lasts were regarded as independent from local, regional and national contingencies; they turned out to be vulnerable to shrinking process, a symptom of the global economic change of order and the inadequacy of policies to cope with different scales of interactions: the glocal.

Argument

The proposal relates the renewal of the local scale at the age of globalization, within the world-system, commonly portrayed through the glorification of global cities. For decades, those lasts were regarded as independent from local, regional and national contingencies; they turned out to be vulnerable to shrinking process, a symptom of the global economic change of order and the inadequacy of policies to cope with different scales of interactions: the glocal.

The missing link is the megaregion, a territorial figure enhancing multi scalar systemic interdependences. It isn’t a new notion, but a new naming of a singularity envisioned by Patrick Geddes in 1915, called conurbation; then observed in 1961 by Jean Gottman called megalopolis, then city region. The scale of observation matters on the way we define the object, since it conscribes our regard, our positioning and the range the possibility and potential available to act on the territory.

In 2013, when Saskian Sassen stated that the global city and the megaregion are the new spatial formats, it was a tautology since the megaregion comprehends one or several global cities as internal components. It stages a complex territorial ecosystem with two scales of actions, by embedding global cities, it responds to the world-system and globalization economical solicitations, but it also revitalizes the local scale by promoting small jobs, activities relocation, craftsmanship and immigration.

They are often linear forms following topographical and geographical entities; bringing back the physical geography on the frontline of the prime parameters. On the opposite, the contemporary practice has based the urban geography policies on the findings of the economical geography _an aspatial disciplinary; reducing the topic on mobility, transport infrastructures and economic competitiveness.

A change of rhetoric is growing with the integration of the five-thousand-year world-system theory supported by Andre G. Frank and Barry K. Gills since 1993; replacing the first world-system in the Bronze Age, distancing the modern capitalism usually associated with (Wallerstein); and, taking globalization as key indicator of the world-system ever-changing hegemonial phase.

The topic explores a megaregion morphogenesis, within the first Afro-Eurasian world-system, articulated around the Indian Ocean. It’s the Swahili territory, a long-reticulated network along the coast and offshore of Oriental Africa; erected from the meeting of the Bantu and Austronesian migrations during a drastic climate change around 3000-800BC.

The aim is to evaluate how a non-ethnic based community structures urban and social policy, setting a territorial resilience coping with local and world-system scales; to compare past and contemporary histories; and, from them, to extract the design parameters for sustainable megaregion using digital tools.

NOTA BENE : for this session, it is not mandatory for your topic to be focused on the Swahili, refer to the attached document.

List of possible topics for the proposal of article (not exhaustive)

Reviewing the global city, globalization and the World-System

• City-States VS Global Cities, Swahili City-States
• Globalization theory, its epistemological and practical implications
• World-System before Modern period in the Indian-Ocean till now
• Chindiafrica, Zhang Hee and Chinese maritime expeditions in the Indian Ocean

Reviewing the megaregion theory:

• Patrick Geddes biologist, urban planning, conurbation in relation to biological logic/system/model…
• Regional, territorial logic, governance, regional integration, transregional logics
• “Espace Mondial” (Bertrand Badie)

Rural and Urban theory:

• Megaregion as a territorial figure that has the potential to re-dynamizes the local and regional scales
• Bioregionalism
• Ecotone, binary zonation, transect, rurban

The geography back on the scene

• Indian Ocean, the trade winds
• Geography VS Economics Geography
• Cartography / datavisualization of Urban Heritage

Circular Ecology and IT

• Indian Ocean
• Symbiosis principle applied to territorial approach
• Geography VS Economic Geography
• Cartography / Data visualization of Heritage
• The Swahili and their natural environment (mangrove and coral reef)

The Swahili

• Immigration and diaspora integration as social asset and mercantile and diplomatic interface
• Mercantile community at the local and global scale
• The Swahili relationship with nature / ecosystem / ecology / symbiosis…
• The dual interface: the Swahili and the Mijikenda, ecotonal zonation
• "The ones of the sea" & "The ones of the forest-mountain" - "Ceux de la mer" & "Ceux de la forêt/montagne"
• From the proto-Swahili to the Swahili period a gap of 16 centuries
• The morphogenesis of the Swahili territory, Swahili architecture, urbanism,
• the Swahili house and gender, as a dispositive playing a key role in the local and global logic of social relationship and mercantile alliances…

Submission guidelines

If interested, please contact louisette.rasoloniaina@gmail.com

http://www.storiaurbana.org/index.php/en/component/content/article/9-congressi/1131-bologna-2019-call-for-paper-u

Before 2019 February 10^th