The event will be held in English. Participation in the event is free of charge in the MK&G Freiraum.

Teaching and Research Program Urban Design in conversation with Rebecca Wall (HU Berlin), Mikropol, Projektbüro, Freiraum MK&G, hallo e.V. and Socrates Stratis (University of Cyprus)

Faced with a multiplicity of global crises, urban life today has reached a tipping point. Most pressingly, an accelerating climate catastrophe calls for feasible social and ecological alternatives beyond Western capitalist hegemony and its dependence on profit-oriented production and excessive mass consumption. Equally, the resurgence of military conflict in and beyond Europe combined with the worldwide renaissance of right-wing and fascist movements and parties ask for the active re-invention and creative re-appropriation of collective practices of solidarity across all domains of urban life. Finally, decades of neoliberal rule and entrenched globalisation have left behind deeply fragmented and highly individualised societies now reflected in a planetary urban landscape of unprecedented global interdependency. Situated at the crossroads of these and other global challenges, today’s city emerges as a city in transition – a liminal city.

Through this public event and our educational endeavors in the Urban Design Master program spanning a year around the concept of liminal cities, we aim to turn our attention toward collective and insurgent modes of urban inhabitation. In particular, we aspire to initiate a dialogue concerning how the transient nature of contemporary urban life resurfaces within insurgent and collective practices, encompassing local housing initiatives, commoning practices, cooperative projects, and various urban, environmental, and political social movements within Hamburg. Our exploration will comprise an array of local initiatives, their immediate urban contexts, and their integration into broader social and political contexts, delving into aspects like private and public funding mechanisms, regulatory frameworks, local and regional development policies, administrative procedures, and civil society initiatives. In doing so, we seek to illuminate the remarkable capacity of these actors to envision inclusive, socially just, and environmentally responsible cities.