Retrat de Sergio Fajardo © Santiago Sepúlveda
“I don’t believe in the politicians that say: ‘I do what the people want’”

Sergio Fajardo

Not affiliated with any of the traditional parties, he became mayor of Medellín in 2004 leading a citizen movement and completely renewed a city that had entered a...

Barcelona’s ring roads and some of the major highways connecting with Catalonia’s northern regions come together at the interchange of La Trinitat.
Barcelona, urban borders

There are an infinite number of borders in Barcelona. Social borders, that separate our ways of life and the possibilities they have to offer (the ‘Upper Diagonal’...

Open cityA crooked, open, modest city

Judgements that the cité has ‘failed’ to open up are thus Janus-faced: one side of the coin shows angry populist prejudice, but on the other face can appear the self-satisfied...

Open cityOpening up the city, rethinking the city

The change in era we’re currently experiencing is altering many of the values, conceptual schemes and balances upon which post-war Europe was built. The “Ciutat Oberta” (Open City)...

Open cityIs there a women’s city?

From a feminist perspective, cities need to respond to the human need to inhabit, not to accumulate wealth. They need to allow people to live where they were born and to access the type...

Open cityCommitment and collective action

Emancipatory political transformation doesn’t just require certain political and legal tools (such as well-established democratic institutions or certain material conditions), but also...

Open cityThe (global) city’s not for me

The large global metropolis embodies the spirit of our era, while small and medium-sized deindustrialized cities are sceptical about the future, with nostalgia for a past they identify...

Open cityRefugee cities: an alternative?

Just as borders are accepted as an inevitable part of our reality, it seems increasingly difficult to imagine a migration policy that doesn’t involve an unyielding defence of the...

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