The ACC is delighted to be hosting Prof Kim Dovey who will be presenting a paper entitled ‘Informal Settlement as Complex Adaptive Assemblage’.
Abstract
Informal urbanism, from informal settlements to economies and street markets, is integral to cities of the global South – economically, socially, environmentally and aesthetically. This paper seeks to unfold and re-think this informal/formal conception using two interconnected theoretical frameworks. First is assemblage theory derived from the work of Deleuze and Guattari, in which a series of twofold concepts such as rhizomic/tree and smooth/striated resonate with the informal/formal construct. Second is theory on complex adaptive systems, in which dynamic and unpredictable patterns of self-organisation emerge with certain levels of resilience or vulnerability. These approaches are drawn together into the concept of a complex adaptive assemblage, illustrated with brief snapshots of urban informality drawn from Southeast Asian cities. The research challenge is to develop multi-disciplinary, multi-scalar methodologies to explore the ways in which informality is linked to squatting, corruption and poverty on the one hand, and to growth, productivity and creativity on the other.
Bio
Kim Dovey is Professor of Architecture and Urban Design at the University of Melbourne. He has published widely on social issues in architecture, urban design and planning. Books include ‘Framing Places’ (Routledge, 2008), ‘Fluid City’ (UNSW Press 2005), ‘Becoming Places’ and the forthcoming ‘Urban Design Thinking’ (Bloomsbury). He leads research projects on informal settlements, transit-oriented development and creative clusters.