Author Archives: splacing

by | 26/09/2011 · 12:22

NEMONA – An Introduction

By Caspar Lundsgaard-Hansen & Renard Teipelke

The fashion and design scene is booming in Berlin.

The inner-city part of Berlin’s district Neukölln is becoming the latest insider’s tip for the capital city’s cool and hip urban life.

Cultural diversity and ethnic mixture (or segregation depending on the perspective) are key features of Berlin’s immigrant neighborhoods.

Why not bring all these things together?

NEMONA – Network for Fashion & Design is a model project co-funded by the European Social Fund and is a prime example of local network initiatives in sustainable urban development. Based in Mainzer Straße 5 in the northern part of Neukölln (map), the project aims at bringing together fashion designers and producers in a cooperative network that fosters sustainable solutions in the fashion industry on the local level. Continue reading →

2 Comments

Filed under miscellaneous, pick of the day

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , ,

by | 23/09/2011 · 11:30

M&Ms in Wisconsin – Part II: Milwaukee

By Renard Teipelke

Only four mayors in 60 years – three of them socialists (sic!). Considering Milwaukee’s 20th century history, the preconditions are really exciting for a US-American city. The Sewer Socialist movement emerged from Milwaukee and included famous figures like Victor L. Berger (see here for more information). With 600,000 citizens, Milwaukee is the largest city in the state of Wisconsin. In the last article I wrote about Wisconsin’s capital city Madison – also an ‘alternative’ city but with a completely different outset. Milwaukee, as part of the Rust Belt, experienced the well-known decline of heavy-industry cities at the Great Lakes. When I told my American friends that I was going to visit Milwaukee, they all ask me why on earth I would want to go to this ‘city in decline.’ Continue reading →

Leave a Comment

Filed under opinions

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

by | 22/09/2011 · 11:30

M&Ms in Wisconsin – Part I: Madison

By Renard Teipelke

The picture of the United States in the media often tends to be limited to the coastal areas versus the ‘crazy’ heartland. There are many states that are probably more important than the Mid-Western state of Wisconsin – situated at Lake Michigan near the Canadian border. Anyhow, I will show by the example of two cities, Madison and Milwaukee, that there are actually relevant things to say about the state and that both cities, despite their very different features, share something other cities are missing: a distinct original character. Continue reading →

Leave a Comment

Filed under opinions

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , ,

by | 16/09/2011 · 11:09

Update: Special Edition of the International Place Branding Conference in Utrecht (January 2012)

(Subscribe to the blog to receive regular updates and related news. )

In:polis | urbanism in cooperation with the Department of Human Geography & Planning, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University are happy to announce that the official conference website for the special edition of the International Place Branding Conference (20th/21st January in Utrecht, Netherlands) will go on-line the last week of September.

The organisers have received more than 70 abstracts for the conference and are currently restructuring the programme in order to allow more authors to present their papers at the conference. Thus, authors will be informed the last week of September if their abstract was accepted by the scientific committee.

Likewise, the registration for the conference will start the last week of September. Authors presenting a paper at the conference will have to register until October 20, 2011.

You can find more information about the conference on this blog (here).

For organisational issues please contact Verena Röber at conference@inprojectis.com.

Leave a Comment

Filed under conferences

Tagged as , , , , ,

by | 14/09/2011 · 09:29

If anything, then cittàslow

By Renard Teipelke

The sun is shining, old couples as well as young families with their children are strolling through the streets, the time stands still and everyone seems to enjoy this lovely summer day in Überlingen at Lake Constance. I am trying to find a hint but I cannot really figure out what makes Überlingen a cittàslow. Maybe, we have to turn to the official website of the cittaslow movement in order to understand why Überlingen qualifies as a cittàslow.

Founded in 1999 by a handful of Italian mayors, cittàslow stands for livable cities. Inspired by the corresponding slow food movement, the quality of urban life is the focal point: regional products, local heritage, cultural diversity, no Americanization through large fast food or cheap clothes franchise companies. Continue reading →

Leave a Comment

Filed under opinions

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , ,

by | 26/08/2011 · 09:44

The ‘Gate’ in ‘Gated Communities’

By Renard Teipelke

The network Architects for Architects and Plattenvereinigung hosted a panel discussion (on Wednesday, August 24th, 2011, at the former Tempelhof Airport in Berlin) titled “Gated Communities – Are we heading toward a two-tier society?”

The panel, moderated by an architect, included a researcher, a developer, another architect, and one local politician. The title gave hope to an interesting discussion on gated communities in Germany and specifically in Berlin. However, I could not be satisfied by the outcome. The panelists threw in all the catchwords possible: gentrification, class system, public housing, social exclusion, parallel society, federal funds, upper class elitism, ghettoization, political corruption, profit making, South Africa, retirement homes, rural idyll, Southern Germans, capitalist investors etc. Continue reading →

Leave a Comment

Filed under opinions

Tagged as , , , , , , , ,

by | 22/08/2011 · 15:43

What Happens If You Stop Marketing Established Brands?

By Renard Teipelke

In football stadiums, in TV commercials, in subways stations, on trucks, along streets – you can encounter Coca Cola advertisements everywhere. Coca Cola is an omnipresent brand worldwide – supposedly to be the most widely known expression after “ok.” Every year, the company spends a high three-digit million dollar amount for marketing. If there is one product brand in the world people from West to East and North to South instantly recognize, it is Coca Cola (–similar to McDonald’s as THE corporate brand–). Continue reading →

Leave a Comment

Filed under opinions

Tagged as , , , , , , ,

by | 18/08/2011 · 15:00

Announcement: Panel Discussion ‘Quo Vadis Creative Economy?’ Part II

© Agora Berlin

Date: August 23rd, 2011

Time: 7 pm

Location: Radialsystem V

Hosts: Dr. Bastian Lange (Multiplicities Berlin) and Ares Kalandides (INPOLIS) Continue reading →

Leave a Comment

Filed under conferences, pick of the day

Tagged as , , , , , , ,

by | 16/08/2011 · 11:59

A Brand Needs more than a Facebook *Like* – but It’s a Good Start

By Renard Teipelke

In the article “Facebook Rankings Reflect National Stereotypes” on SPIEGEL Online International, Alison Kilian writes about the findings of Socialbakers – a statistics portal that counted the ten most popular Facebook pages for each country. It may come with no surprise that Facebook users’ *likes* pretty often resemble the corresponding country stereotypes: US Americans *like* fast food and the Irish root for alcoholic brands, while Germans and the Spanish praise FC Bayern Munich and FC Barcelona as their #1 brand, respectively. Continue reading →

Leave a Comment

Filed under opinions, pick of the day

Tagged as , , , , , , ,

by | 08/08/2011 · 12:04

Second Call for Papers for the Special Edition of the International Place Branding Conference in Utrecht January 2012

(Subscribe to the blog to receive regular updates and related news. )

in:polis | urbanism in cooperation with the Department of Human Geography & Planning, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University are happy to announce that the second Call for Papers for the special edition of the International Place Branding Conference from 20th to 21st January in Utrecht, Netherlands, has been issued.

Continue reading →

Leave a Comment

Filed under conferences, pick of the day

Tagged as , , , , ,