URBAN TYPHOONS are events during which local communities from particular neighbourhoods get together with urban practitioners from around the world to produce visions and ideas for a collectively authored effort at urban planning and transformation. The workshops are based on the premise that communities and neighbourhoods have the basic skills and talent to participate more effectively in the processes of urban planning or in simply making appropriate choices that affect their future and the future of their cities. During a ten day interactive event, resource-persons work in teams comprising of local residents and practitioners from everywhere to develop specific themes.
The first Urban Typhoon workshop was held in Shimokatazawa, Tokyo (Japan), in 2006. The second one took place in Koliwada-Dharavi, Mumbai (India) in 2008. The third one in Khirkee, New Delhi (India) in 2010.
Behind the specific contexts of the Urban Typhoon workshops lies a theme of great relevance for urban communities around the world: the participation of the residents in the planning of their urban environment. Over the past decade, participatory planning has gradually gained recognition in the fields of planning and development. Developing cities, such as Curitiba in Brazil, Bogota in Colombia, and Mumbai in India, have experimented with participatory schemes, inspiring other cities, as well as international organizations such as the United Nations and the World Bank. Residents’ participation has become an essential element of urban policy in the developing world, as well as in highly developed cities such as Tokyo.
URBAN TYPHOON Khirkee Village, New Delhi, 2010
URBAN TYPHOON Koliwada, Dharavi, Mumbai 2008
URBAN TYPHOON, Shimokitazawa, Tokyo, 2006