Kaloleni: a Kenyan Garden City In Nairobi, the reek of exhaust fumes permeates the air. Despite the green presence of majestic Cape Chestnuts, spreading fig trees and ancient liana vines, a thick white haze hangs around the city, following the major roads like a poisonous ghost. After a few days in the city, one quickly becomes accustomed to sitting in traffic with the windows rolled up and air conditioning on, even on the most glorious mornings. Here, that has as much to do with ‘snatchers’ strolling alongside the traffic jams as it does with air pollution. But tucked behind the City Stadium, just east of busy (...)

The miracle of Nowa Huta This is the fourth installment in Joris van Casteren’s series on New Towns across Europe. In this article from the summer issue of Hollands Diep, Van Casteren explores this Polish New Town and the people that call it home. Nowa Huta was also the subject of a recent INTI research trip.

Revived by historicization In a series of six episodes, the International New Town Institute (INTI) explores unusual aspects of rapidly developed settlements across Europe. Rachel Keeton reports on the recent renovation of Stedenwijk Noord, a district in the Dutch New Town of Almere.

Gropiusstadt; "Christiane F. woont hier niet meer" Joris van Casteren has been busy writing a series of stories about New Towns across Europe. The third article in this series appears in the latest version of the Dutch magazine Hollands Diep.

DA LANG FEVER Shenzhen is upgrading its industry. It results in empty factory buildings and in huge demographic changes within the migrant population. It implies a transition from a blue-collar to a white-collar society. The economic success of Shenzhen is based on cheap labor. Nonetheless, blue-collar migrants are considered to be both problematic and vulnerable. But do we really understand and therefore appreciate the economic and social value of the current generation of migrants in Shenzhen? Da Lang Fever is the story about the potential of a self-organizing migrant society in Da Lang (...)

I am Rosengård In a series of six episodes, the International New Town Institute (INTI), based in Almere, the Netherlands, explores unusual aspects of rapidly developed settlements across Europe. Rachel Keeton reports on the Malmö neighbourhood of Rosengård, a multi-ethnic district and home base of international football star Zlatan Ibrahimović.

Toulouse-Le Mirail; De voorstad brandt "In Toulouse werd aan de overkant van de rivier de modelstad Le Mirail gebouwd. Progressieven uit heel Frankrijk kwamen af op het ontwerp van architect Candilis. Tegenwoordig is Le Mirail een grimmige voorstad waar auto’s in brand worden gestoken. ‘De immigranten hebben nooit moeite gedaan om Candilis te begrijpen.’" Tweede deel van een serie over New Towns en uitbreidingswijken in Europa van Joris van Casteren.

In search of new values While many new cities are being built worldwide the private sector is taking many of the traditional roles of the government in planning and governance. What does that mean for the quality of our future cities? And what role is there in this new constellation for city leaders? In Western Europe the idea of building a new city from scratch has not been a relevant issue now for the last decades. It used to be on our agenda to solve the housing shortage during the postwar years and lead to hundreds of so called New Towns all over Europe. But now that economic growth has shifted to Asia, (...)

A failed Communist utopia embraces its past – Nowa Huta In a series of six episodes, the International New Town Institute (INTI), based in Almere, the Netherlands, explores unusual aspects of rapidly developed settlements across Europe. Rachel Keeton reports on the district Nowa Huta, planned as a model Communist city in 1949. Situated on the outskirts of dangerously liberal Kraków, the location made sense ideologically, but proved to be misguided.

Cumbernauld; Hollands Diep Joris van Casteren, recently nominated for the AKO Literature Prize for his book Lelystad, has been busy writing a series of stories about New Towns across Europe. The first in this series appears as an article in the latest version of the Dutch magazine Hollands Diep. In the article, van Casteren describes the city and inhabitants of Cumbernauld, Scotland. Cumbernauld was created in 1956 as a satellite town for population overspill from Glasgow. The article documents the growth and evolution of this city, as well as the characters that call it home.