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The Summer of 2010
This summer has been like a summer breeze and a tornado combined. Before leaving East Lansing for the Netherlands and Germany, I had planned to focus on networking with European institutions to create an international research agenda for my years to come as an assistant professor. Despite meeting many institutions, researchers, and professors along the way, it not only seemed that the most valuable source of information, new connections, and ideas I found through talking to people at the World Conference of Transport Research, but also that the countries I am most likely to work with, will be Australia, Switzerland, South Africa and the US. As for further cities, I had to admit that it is rather the extreme events that will determine my research agenda in the near future and not my current network. This could include Pakistan, Brazil, etc. Despite that change in plans, the connections I have made through my meetings (besides the conference) will help me in my long-term plans, which could come to bear in my associate professor years - so god is willing. And yes, the university too. In order not to get off track with my new found wisdom and direction, I wrote a visionary document that should guide my future work at the university. So, all in all, I would describe this summer as a "Findungsphase". The Sustainable City
Teaching definitely is my passion. These past few months in the class room have taught me more than I could have imagined. My emphasis has been on strategic master planning of cities. While teaching, my students volunteered to be part of my ongoing research projects on student learning. After this semester, I decided to redesign the class to "The Sustainable and Climate Resilient City". Climate Resilience should be at the forefront of pracitioners when thinking about future cities - our students are the ones that make change possible. South Africa 2010
The Soccer WorldCup will take place in South Africa between June 11 - July 11, 2010. During my visit, every radio station broadcasted facts about the cup being hosted by South Africa at least every hour. It was wonderful to experience this excitement. However, such excitement seems to overshadow the fact that planning for the WorldCup is an incredibly hard task for a country that barely has public transportation, and if it does foreigners will find it hard to use transit due to its unreliable schedules, its long travel times between World Cup cities, and above all its potential risk of being a victim of crime. The draw activities alone caused long delays and getting to the center of activity was incredibly expensive. In the following few months, I will certainly follow the preparations for transport for the cup. Please email me if you have ideas for collaboration or want to start working on the project. The townships in and around Capetown have received significant upgrades in recent years, providing housing along major roads - primarily to those areas most visible and likely to be traveled by visitors on their journeys to reach stadiums in and around the WorldCup cities. In pursuing housing developments, new houses, however, were not given to those previously living on these grounds, but rather put up for purchase. Therefore, some people had to relocate, moving further away from Capetown and such access to jobs. In building new development, the government has embarked on a journey of energy efficiency in installing solar panels on rooftops of newly built houses. Communication around the WorldCup is geared to raise awareness for HIV and AIDS. On my journey through Langa and Khayalitsha, the two biggest townships around Capetown, I observed multiple efforts to raise awareness among the local populations, e.g. in a kindergarden children were already educated in how to avoid contact with spilled blood. I also talked with local community organizers during World AIDS Day. What surprised me the most was the organizers statement that their efforts shifted more to teaching people on how to live with AIDS rather than purely making aware of the dangers in how to contract it. http://www.worldaidsday.org/ |
