The talk introduces the concept of "co-designing publics" by examining what lies at the potent intersection of the public realm and informal urbanisms, in the context of the cities of the global south. Dr. Inam defines the public realm as interconnected and intertwined spatial and political networks of public spaces that weave a city together, while informal urbanisms are the transactional conditions of ambiguity that exist between what is acceptable and what is unacceptable in cities. At their intersection are publics, who never simply exist because they are always created. In fact, publics are co-designed [i.e. co-created in inventive and multifarious ways] around common concerns or desire through volitional inquiry and action. I contextualize these discussions by paying particular attention to the cities of the global south, because place matters in shaping urban thinking and practice. There is an increasing interest in thinking and practicing from cities of the global south rather than just about them. The talk then describes how these ideas were further investigated through grounded examples in different cities and articulated through interactive and collaborative dialogic events in the Co-Designing Publics international research network, funded through a grant awarded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council. He will conclude with some thoughts on the implications of this work for urban theory and practice, which are applicable to cities in the global south as well as the global north.

Dr. Aseem Inam is Professor and Inaugural Chair in Urban Design at Cardiff University in the UK. He is also the Founding Director of TRULAB: Laboratory for Designing Urban Transformation, a pioneering research-based practice first established in New York City. As a Principal Investigator, Dr. Inam is currently leading multiple funded research projects, including "Co-Designing Publics: [Re]Producing the Public Realm via Informal Urbanisms," "The Prismatic City: Surprising Insights from Las Vegas into the True Nature of Contemporary Urbanism," and "Designing an Equitable City: Confronting Gentrification in Creative Pedagogy." In addition to numerous award-winning book chapters, journal articles, and professional reports, his books include Planning for the Unplanned: Recovering from Crises in Megacities [a comparison of Los Angeles and Mexico City] and Designing Urban Transformation [a critical manifesto for transformative urbanism in the 21st century]. He is the editor of the forthcoming book to be published by ORO Editions International, Co-Designing Publics, which will present a unique theoretical framework drawing on ideas at the nexus of co-design, publics, public realm, and informal urbanisms, and insights from case studies in Bengaluru, Cali, Capetown, Jakarta, Phnom Penh, and Sao Paulo. Dr. Inam has collaborated with communities as an urban activist and practitioner in Brazil, Canada, France, Greece, Haiti, India, Morocco, United Kingdom, and United States.

Note: Unfortunately, in order to enter campus, Non-MIT visitors must register via MIT's Tim Ticket System.