Integration and Disintegration: The View from the URBAN REGION

This is a reflective and theoretical paper. I begin by asking a pair of very simple questions: at what scale of resolution do I even start to think about the questions posed by the conference theme of cities between integration and disintegration; and second, what exactly is meant by the phrase production (emphasis in original) of cities in the call for papers? Clear responses turn out to be not so simple, but they eventually boil down to a focus on the notion and scale of the URBAN REGION, reliance on empirical verifiability, and a focus on spiritual, social, and economic well-being of regions’ inhabitants as opposed to the creation of places. Throughout, I use several examples – the Turning Torso in Malmo, Sweden; the “Hanover Miracle”; the Daegu, South Korea ‘cultural industry core’ planning document, any “cultural quarter” as well as Istanbul – as evocative, iconic, or metaphorical images to focus arguments and positions.