S4E12: The Routledge Handbook of Urban Cultural Planning... Rana Amirtahmasebi & Jason Schupbach, Co-Editors
Guest
Rana Amirtahmasebi & Jason Schupbach
In conversation with
Stephanie Fortunato
Our host Stephanie Fortunato sits down with Rana Amirtahmasebi and Jason Schupbach, co-editors of The Routledge Handbook of Urban Cultural Planning, to be released in December 2024. The Handbook is the first survey of the latest and greatest thinking in urban cultural planning in 10 years, exploring approaches to bringing more cultural vibrancy and engagement in sustainable urban development. The book focuses on the spatial and social organization of urban spaces that facilitate artistic production, foster community well-being, and nurture expressions of civic identity.
Date of Recording
24 October 2024
Date of Publication
21 November 2024
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Rana Amirtahmasebi: Reading and editing articles for this book, we could not help but remember Khaled al-Asaad, the 82 year old archaeologist who died protecting the cultural heritage of Palmyra. He was held for a month before his body was found at a column in a main square of the historic Palmyra.
He refused to reveal the whereabouts of historic articles that had been moved for safekeeping to prove that culture is an important part of our shared history – worth dying for. We also remember how the Taliban destroyed the World Heritage site of Bamiyan Buddhas in 2001.
In the United States, the conflict over historic statues and their significance reveals how important storytelling and memory is to our contemporary cultures. In another example, in post-war Bosnia, the former adversary groups of Muslims and Christians came together to build the historic bridge of Mostar as a sign of reconciliation and international solidarity. These examples show how culture is interwoven into our daily struggles and cohabitation as human beings, and will continue to be in the future.
[00:00:59] [THEME MUSIC]
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Stephanie Fortunato: Hello, and welcome to The Three Bells. This podcast is one of a series brought to you by AEA Consulting for the Global Cultural Districts Network, in which we explore what's happening around the world on those busy, and sometimes congested intersections of cultural and urban life.
The series and supporting materials can be found at www.thethreebells.net. I'm your host, Stephanie Fortunato, Director of Special Projects for GCDN.
So I'm pretty good at getting stuff done, but something I've never been particularly good at is documenting my efforts. Well, that's not entirely true. I have some 50,000 images on my phone because I am constantly snapping photos as if I'm in a race to capture the fleeting moments and to aid my memory. So I have lots of photos with varying quality cataloguing my life and work in great detail. And I regularly set an intention to pair said images with words to share beyond the closed circuit of my text thread. But rarely do I complete that task.
[00:02:00]
Stephanie Fortunato: Instead, somewhere between capturing the moment and extending an invitation for others to share in it, I lose momentum? Interest? The conviction that there is value in adding more noise to the chaotic panoply of images and words all around us? Ah, I don't know exactly.
But I do know that time passes. I move on to the next thing. The number of images in my already unmanageable photo library grows. There's another note to self with points about what I might want to contribute to the conversation from my experience and observations, and the cycle starts anew. Well, there's always next time.
I share these shortcomings not to be self-deprecating, nor to make those who know me best roll their eyes because I'm talking about this again; I share it because I'm always really impressed by people who prioritise documentation and storytelling alongside the doing and assessment of the work. People who can simultaneously organise, produce, analyse, and document what's taking place.
In my opinion, it's an even more impressive feat when practitioners can zoom out to see the policy implications and patterns that lend themselves to successful practices for their communities and for the field. Which is why I am super excited about a new book coming out about urban cultural planning. A book, fair warning, that clocks in at nearly 600 pages, but, and, is chock full of keen observations and insights about the burgeoning field of urban cultural planning. Which, it turns out, is less a new field than a new umbrella term to encompass a diverse range of approaches to urban cultural planning and applications found all over the world.
We are fortunate to have two guests today who will share more about this. The brilliant co-editors of the forthcoming Routledge Handbook of Urban Cultural Planning: Rana Amirtesmasebi and Jason Schupbach. And it is my pleasure to welcome them to The Three Bells. Hello, Jason and Rana.
[00:03:53]
Jason Schupbach: Hello.
[00:03:54]
Rana Amirtahmasebi: Hello, thank you for this introduction.
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Acknowledgment
The Handbook is a partnership between the editors and the World Cities Culture Forum, a network of civic leaders from over 40 creative cities across six continents who share solutions to build a world where culture is at the heart of thriving cities. Leadership at the forum, including Executive Director Laia Gasch, provided significant assistance in helping to structure the book and identify authors.
In addition, the editors are grateful for the assistance provided by Global Cultural Districts Network, including Founder Adrian Ellis and Director of Special Projects Stephanie Fortunato, in finding authors and identifying key issues. Also, we are grateful to the staff of the National Endowment for the Arts for assisting identifying authors, including Chair Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson, Senior Advisor Jennifer Hughes and Director of State, Regional and Local Partnerships Michael Orlove. Tashera Dean assisted in copyediting.
About our Guests
Rana Amirtahmasebi is an economic development and cultural planning strategist and researcher. She is the founder of Eparque Urban Strategies in New York and previously worked at the World Bank, Aga Khan Programme on Islamic Architecture at MIT and several other entities. +
Jason Schupbach is the Dean of the Westphal College of Media Arts & Design at Drexel University. He is a nationally recognized expert in the role that arts and design play in improving communities. +
