Lab members take on AESOP 2019.
On July 11, Architect and urban planner Eynat Mendelson Shwartz gave a paper at AESOP 2019 Venice, focusing on mural art and the conflicts associated with its creation in the public domain. The paper touched on contemporary challenges faced by artists, owners, and city officials in their attempts to create and regulate art on the streets.
In a later session, Dr. Mualam – together with Dr. Talia Margalit of Tel Aviv University- presented the idea of selective rescaling. The paper asks: ‘what happens when central government decides to re-zone an entire country and give apartment owners nationwide incentives to upgrade their assets? Can such a plan benefit all, and what happens when it does not?’ Dr. Mualam and Dr. Margalit discussed these questions by referring to a national program for earthquake preparedness approved in Israel in 2005. This plan encourages apartment owners in older buildings to make them earthquake-ready by giving them options to add floorspace. The findings point out a certain ‘scalar jump’ which involves central government’s intervention in local planning matters. The findings presented at AESOP point out the regressive impact of this nationwide policy.
This paper was shortlisted for ‘best paper’ award at the conference (see: https://www.aesop-planning.eu/awards/en_GB/2019/07/22/readabout/aesop-best-congress-paper-award-2019 )
