Urbanism at Borders : Navigating New Frontiers in a Globalized World

Disrupting traditional notions of urban and city planning, this volume examines the intricate interplay of conflicts, the emergence of new borders for refugees and migrants, colonial legacies and postcolonial policies, and grassroots struggles for better social policies. As the second volume complementing Border Urbanism: Transdisciplinary Perspectives (2023), Urbanism at Borders: Navigating New Frontiers in a Globalized World presents a comprehensive exploration of the evolving urban fabric, highlighting 32 of the most compelling, under-explored themes presented at the second Urbanism at Borders Global conference, convened in 2019 in Malaga, Spain. These chapters scrutinize various aspects of border trends to better understand how spatial justice, urban form and the lives of marginalized and common citizens are affected by borders.

Authors in this volume examine the perception, interpretation, and nature of borders, shedding light on their transformative influence on historical, cultural, and socioeconomic interests. The book focuses on how urban border conditions determine the mobility of goods, resources, and populations, defining interactions and relationships that extend from geopolitical relations to the intricacies of everyday life. Temporal issues arising from diverse urban conditions are addressed, with each chapter contributing to a critical discourse on border urbanism and the nuanced interplay between conflict and coexistence resulting from the delineation, separation, and segregation imposed by borders. This volume goes beyond conventional discourses on borders, exploring often overlooked or hereto-thought unrelated dimensions such as tourism and housing. By broadening the narrative to encompass these critical aspects, this volume enhances understandings of and proposes solutions to contemporary challenges, recognizing that borders–and their effects–manifest at different scales and in different ways.

Guido Cimadomo is an architect and associate professor in architectural history, theory, analysis, and criticism at the Department of Art and Architecture, Universidad de Malaga (Spain), where he has been teaching since 2010. His research focuses on urban transformations, with particular attention to participatory processes, cultural and industrial heritage, and the impact of large-scale events such as world expositions on the city. He is an expert member of CIPA Heritage Documentation, the ICOMOS scientific committee dedicated to the documentation of architectural heritage, a member of ISOCARP, and a board member of the Institute for the Study of International Expositions (ISIE), where he investigates the legacy and urban influence of international expositions. His academic career includes visiting research positions at the University of Oregon (USA, 2022), the University of Queensland (Australia, 2017) and University of Seville (Spain, 2016), reinforcing his international engagement with urban and heritage studies.

Quazi Mahtab Zaman is an architect and urban designer with an extensive international background in teaching, research, and practice. He teaches the theory and the practice of architecture and urban design at the Scott Sutherland School of Architecture and Built Environment at Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, Scotland. He has also researched and taught at Cornell University, BRAC University, Bangladesh, and the University of Hong Kong. In addition, his research includes a Fulbright Fellowship at Cornell University’s College of Architecture, Art and Planning; postgraduate research at Lund University, Sweden; and a master’s in Urban Design and a Ph.D. in Urban Design and Mass Housing at the University of Hong Kong. Zaman founded the Borders Urbanism research initiative. As the chair, editor, and convenor of the Borders Urbanism research initiative and founder of the Border Urbanism Research Center, he focuses on borders as a multidisciplinary research topic.

Eduardo Jiménez-Morales, M.Arch. (Universidad de Granada) and Ph.D. (Universidad de Málaga), is an associate professor in Urban and Regional Planning at the Department of Art and Architecture, Universidad de Malaga (Spain). He is member of UTOPIA (Urbanism, Tourism, Landscape & Architectural Innovation Research Group) and his most recent research focuses on the socio-spatial dynamics resulting from the functional reformulation of mature tourist destinations and the multi-scale impact of new urban tourism in the contemporary city. His work as a scholar and architect has been recognized by the Universidad de Málaga (2021), La Caixa Foundation (Spain, 2020), the Southeast University Nanjing (China, 2020), the Ministry of Education (Czech Republic, 2017), the Andalusian Regional Government (Spain, 2010-15), the Festival dell’Architettura (Italy, 2010), the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC, 2010) or the Pasajes-iGuzzini Awards (Spain, 2005), among others.