EPIIC Addresses Global Cities in the Urban Century

NEXUS | The IGL Newsletter | Fall 2008

With 2007 seeing the first time in history that more of the world’s population is living in urban areas than in rural areas, EPIIC is exploring “Global Cities” as its 2008-09 theme.

Cities have variously been understood as the cultivators of civilization and the generators of prosperity, as well as the source of corruption and immorality. In fiction and films, they capture our imagination, running the gamut from cultural wastelands to future utopias.

EPIIC, this year, is an international and interdisciplinary investigation into the future of cities, utilizing a global network of policy makers, academic experts, architects, engineers and urban practitioners; as well as working with city mayors and internationally renowned specialists with practical and theoretical expertise in fields ranging from governance and urban crime to housing, city design, and transport.

This year’s class enrolled 40 students from eight countries: Canada, China, England, India, Singapore, Taiwan, and Turkey. Their majors include American Studies, Anthropology, Architectural Studies, Art History, Child Development, Community Health, Economics, Engineering, English, Environmental Studies, International Relations, Music, Political Science, Russian History, Sociology, and Urban Studies. The languages they speak include Bengali, Chinese, French, German, Hebrew, Hindi, Latin, Russian, Spanish, and Turkish.

The rise and fall of great cities has been part of civilization’s history, from Athens to Ur, from Alexandria to Nineveh, from Rome to Tenochtitlan. What can be learned from their legacies? Cities of the future are being created in the United Arab Emirates and Brazil, what can be learned from their promise?

The 21st century is the urban century. In 1800, only three percent of the world’s population lived in cities. Now, more than 50 percent of the population does. This rural to urban migration, along with its implications and consequences, from the future of agriculture to the sustainability of water and energy supplies, are a critical focus of the course. In conjunction with this migration is the overall explosion of the world’s population. In 1950, there were 83 cities with populations exceeding one million. In 2008, there are 468. China’s urban explosion, the largest in history, has given rise to 102 cities with more than a million residents.

How will cities and countries contend with this acceleration? What insights can be developed into spatial and social developments in cities confronting economic and demographic growth? What will be the global socio-economic, political and security challenges of such rapid urbanization? What are the tensions brought about by the globalization of modern cities with both its global connectedness and local disconnectedness?

In 1995 there were 14 megacities; in 2015 there will be 21. In 2000, there were already 18 hyper cities, such as New York City, Mexico City, Mumbai, Sao Paulo, and Karachi. The Greater Tokyo Area has a population of 35 million, which is greater than the entire population of Canada, but condensed into 5,200 square miles, as compared to Canada’s 3.8 million square miles. What specific challenges do these intensely populated areas pose for governance, infrastructure, economic prosperity, and sustainability?

EPIIC is looking at cities as centers of great culture and great architecture; as command centers for the global economy; as energized flow centers of commodities, information and people; and also as lures for internal and external migration, with the attendant dilemmas of congestion, environmental degradation, poverty, disease, homelessness, and crime.

How has globalization shaped today’s cities and what impact will it have in the future? In all of this growth, who is being left behind? From the promise of Las Vegas and Dubai to the slums of Mumbai and Santiago, the course is exploring and seeking to understand cities as dramatic centers for both extreme affluence and chronic poverty. The urban agenda is a critical global issue. What strategies might lead to the development of prosperous, innovative multi-cultural sustainable cities that would enhance the quality of life for all citizens?

Colloquium speakers to date have included: Julian Agyeman, chair of the Urban and Environmental Planning Department, Tufts University; Edith Balbach, chair of Community Health, Tufts University; Ryan Centner (EPIIC’98), assistant professor of Sociology, Tufts University; Elyse Cherry, CEO of Boston Community Capital; Abebe Dinku, dean of the Faculty of Technology, Addis Ababa University; Anna Hardman, Lecturer in Economics, Tufts University; Steve Hirsch, professor of Classics, Tufts University; Kent Portney, associate professor of Political Science, Tufts University; Gregg Steinberg, Founder, Hybricore; Heyaw Tereffe, architect and associate dean, Addis Ababa University.

In early September, the class traveled for its annual weekend immersion to Outward Bound’s Newry, Maine center. The guest speaker was Dr. Janice Perlman. Dr. Perlman is the Founder and President of The Mega-Cities Project, Inc., a global non-profit organization (with consultative status to UN ECOSOC) whose mission is: “to shorten the lag time between ideas and implementation”—particularly at the intersection of income generation, environmental re-generation and participatory democracy. Prior to founding the Mega-Cities Project, Dr. Perlman was a tenured Professor in the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of California, Berkeley. Outside of academia, Dr. Perlman served as Coordinator of The Inter-Agency Task Force on Neighborhoods of President Carter’s National Urban Policy; Executive Director of Strategic Planning for the New York City Partnership; and Director of Science, Technology and Public Policy at the New York Academy of Sciences. Her publications include: The Myth of Marginality: Urban Politics and Poverty in Rio de Janeiro and her forthcoming book, FAVELA: The Dynamics of Urban Poverty in Rio de Janeiro, 1968-2005.

Below is senior Emily Freedman’s reflection on Outward Bound.

As a senior, I must admit I was skeptical. Over the last three years, I have been on my share of these retreats with various organizations, some more effectively run than others, and have found that they leave something to be desired. Generally, I have returned to Tufts with a new illness and a new obligation to an organization I feel only somewhat engaged in, all the while feeling as though I have wasted the majority of my weekend which I really needed to recharge my batteries for the next week. Driving four and a half hours, though, added a new dimension to my cynicism: what could be so wonderful that it would merit such a long drive for such a short weekend? The relative lack of upperclassmen in the EPIIC group was furthering my discomfort with my decision to apply for EPIIC and the appropriateness of the class for me: Was senior year the wrong time to do this? Will this class be more appropriately aimed at the underclassmen who will have time at Tufts to capitalize on the knowledge they will acquire and ultimately reap more benefits through a sustained connection with the IGL? Up until the last minute, I was second-guessing EPIIC, but was also feeling like I had gotten myself too far in to get out now. So with unbridled uncertainty I packed and headed down to the IGL the morning of our outward bound experience, and in the end, can say that the experience debunked all of my apprehensions.

For me, the real turning point was the autobiographies period the first night. The raw honesty that some members of the class displayed made me recognize the unique nature of this program: the sheer amount of work and thoroughness of the class is one that would only appeal to a certain type of person, and for whatever reason, that legitimated for me each member of the class. I was thinking about my friends at school and other people I have had classes with in the past, and could see a fundamental difference in the interactions with this group. It was a safe place to be honest because everyone was listening; everybody wanted to know each other’s experiences because people were thirsty for new information and had passions they were not trying to stifle to lead a more mainstreamed college life. It was a room full of the people I have spent my last three years at Tufts looking for, and had ultimately replaced with a shallower alternative.

Hearing everybody’s paths to where they currently are left me feeling excited but also inadequate. It left me with questions about the world around me, and made me appreciate what I have gotten the chance to do, made me eager to do what others have done, made me want to learn about previously unknown realities of the world, and most importantly, made me excited to build a team with the rest of the EPIIC community.

Having Janice there added a lot for me. I have wondered frequently since hearing about EPIIC why so many experts in their fields were willing to come to Tufts to lecture this class and to be part of the symposium. Her excitement made me realize that it is because they have faith in the future of the world by engaging our generation: Janice’s unbelievable excitement about the course and engaging us in the Megacities Project had me beginning to feel that way, too. I kept hearing my advisor for Child Development, Richard Lerner, saying that the way to get youth actively engaged is to give them responsibility. Her willingness to work with us, and the reciprocal enthusiasm for her program, encouraged me. I kept feeling surges of excitement during the program, excited for the opportunities that were waiting, intermittent with disappointment that I have so little time left at Tufts to really make a significant impact. I kept feeling like I wanted to drop the rest of my classes and just get involved, do everything the IGL had to offer, because at the end of the day, this was what I would remember.

Ultimately, the weekend for me was like coming up for air. I had become so disinterested in my academic pursuit due to my disappointment in many of my classes at Tufts, and basically had decided that I have been paying for nothing more than my degree because I was coming out of Tufts with little more than I entered with. This program, and my excitement fostered for it, have re-peaked my intellectual interests and reengaged me in learning something new. It has made me excited for what I will learn, the challenges I will face, and what more could realistically come out of this.