urbz : user-generated cities

Over the last few months, we at urbz have been talking about interventions to engage with the ecological and economic aspects of the mangroves. So we went on an expedition to explore the mangroves near Dharavi.

Antonio Moreno, young Petareño, known by everyone in "El Encantado", South Petare as the son of Micheal Jackson, was offered the seed investment, the necessary machinery and a place in the shopping mall “Centro Comercial Terrazas del Avila” to start his very own bakery, the opportunity of a lifetime but he asked himself - why would he open his bakery in a shopping mall, if his own street didn’t have one? 

The “Urban Actions and Emergent Architecture:Community Architecture 2019” first Encounter was held in the city of Bogotá, Colombia on the 25th and 26th of October of 2019. This was the first event to ever bring together community leaders, architecture colectivos, professors and students to discuss around the topic of community development initiatives.

This series of articles seeks to shed light on the origin of the unplanned settlements that are home to more than half of Caracas’s population, but whose stories have never been told. Multiple inhabitants were interviewed and shared their stories of struggles, overcoming hardships, constant improvement and self governance that are the origin of unplanned settlements in Venezuela.

"I was fortunate enough to be a part of the urbz network through my internship with them in Mumbai. I then travelled to Bogotá, Colombia as part of their network. Having lived in Mumbai, combined with my experience of life in Bogotá, naturally led me to compare the two cities; their multiple similarities and not so many differences".