Julian Agyeman

We are finding that in the case of the city I live in Portland, Oregon, that the hottest areas are where people have the least formal education, limited English proficiency, high levels of racial diversity and extreme poverty.

What I would like to talk about is what we learn from prehistory about intercultural urbanism, which I essentially define as theory and practice of planning and design that respects differences in ways of living, dwelling, being, belonging and even remembering in the city.

And here’s the question that we invite every ambitious city to ask itself. How can our city, be a home to thriving people, in a thriving place, while respecting the well-being of all people and the health of the whole planet?

I will say, as I think Pen stresses in the solidarity economy sort of writings and discussions, that we do need a new economic context for this. These aren’t all going to be your traditional profitable businesses. They contribute a lot more to the community.

Underlying the recent unrest sweeping U.S. cities over police brutality is a fundamental inequity in wealth, land and power that has circumscribed black lives since the end of slavery in the U.S.

The nature of sharing in the modern world is changing.