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Global Focus on Knowledge 2008: Changing Cities -- Politics, Technology, Celebrations

We live in an urban civilization. Cities are a place for living, a place for expression, an origin of culture, and a repository of memories. Our cities are the aggregates of buildings, of roads and other transportation lifelines, of our infrastructure. Cities are also the crucible of intangible culture and authority. What created these cities? What will transform our cities? And what direction are our cities heading toward now? Focusing on Tokyo, these lectures will consider from various viewpoints the true nature of these enveloping cities and their future design and functions.
Cities have many influences that shape and transform us, and they are filled with myriad messages and signs that communicate these influences. Cities are a physical construct, and at the same time they are the setting of cultural and political phenomena. As these lectures explore from different perspectives the multifaceted nature of cities, we hope you will see in a new light the city and its relation to you.