Littérature scientifique sur le sujet « Patchwork Metropolis »

In 1989 the young Dutch architect Willem Jan Neutelings developed a project for the area in between Rotterdam and the Hague that was going to face, in the following years, a huge increment of population and activities. In this context Neutelings proposed his personal reinterpretation of the urban form called “De Tapijtmetropool” or “Patchwork Metropolis” . The analyses of his work has been the methodological pretext to further investigate the different declinations of the figure of the patchwork in the urban discipline from its origins, mainly related with the work of “The Regional Planning Association of America” and ecologists such as Richard T.T. Forman, until today. Interpreted as a general manifesto or as the explanation of a specific territorial configuration, the patchwork discourse crosses many of the preeminent topics of the modernity – the figure of the fragment, the issue of the peripheral condition and the territorial layout of the contemporary city – but also many other metaphors and researches – cities in between , the territory as a palimpsests , the city territory , the città diffusa , the archipelago city – preserving and enriching each time its precious ambiguity. The thesis is articulated in four parts that assemble a circular story that opens and closes in the same sector of the Dutch territory. Starting with a new reading of the Neutelings’ manifesto (I) and finishing with the analyses of the political, social and territorial configuration of the Netherlands (IV), the research demonstrates retrospectively the presence of an implicit project, recognizing the elements and the typical working mechanisms of the patchwork model. The central part of this thesis (II-III) questions the operational validity of the patchwork metaphor for the urban discipline, aiming to transform the six-pages long article of Neutelings into a more coherent and grounded paradigm to interpret and design the contemporary territories. As a project of coexistence, the patchwork deserves a preeminent role in the contemporary urban discourse, for the willingness to seek an order, even if a weak one, in a territory which is apparently missing it and to address one of the most important themes of the entire Western culture: the relationship between the one and the multiple .

Nel 1989 il giovane architetto olandese Willem Jan Neutelings elaborò un progetto per l'area compresa tra Rotterdam e L'Aia, che in quegli stava subendo un vasto processo di urbanizzazione. In questo contesto Neutelings propose la sua personale reinterpretazione della condizione territoriale denominata "De Tapijtmetropool" o “Patchwork Metropolis” . L'analisi del suo lavoro è stata utilizzata in questa tesi come un pretesto metodologico per approfondire lo studio delle diverse declinazioni della figura del patchwork nella disciplina urbanistica dalle sue origini, principlamente legate al lavoro del gruppo "The Regional Planning Association of America" ed ecologisti come Richard T.T. Forman, fino ad oggi. Interpretato come un provocatorio manifesto o come la spiegazione di una specifica configurazione territoriale, il discorso legato al patchwork attraversa molti dei più importanti temi della modernità ¬– la figura del frammento, la condizione periferica e la dimensione territoriale della città contemporanea – ma anche molte altre metafore e ricerche – cities in between , il territorio come palinsesto , la città territorio , la città diffusa , la città arcipelago – ogni volta preservando ed arricchendo la sua preziosa ambiguità. La tesi si articola in quattro parti che costruiscono una storia circolare the si apre e si chiude nella stessa porzione di territorio olandese. Iniziando con una nuova lettura del manifesto di Neutelings (I) e finendo con l'analisi della configurazione politica, sociale e territoriale olandese (IV), la ricerca mostra la presenza, in retrospettiva, di un progetto implicito, riconoscendo gli elementi ed i meccanismi di funzionamento tipici del modello del patchwork. La parte centrale della tesi (II-III) indaga la validità operativa della metafora del patchwork, allo scopo di trasformare l'articolo lungo sei pagine pubblicato da Neutelings in un più coerente e fondato paradigma per interpretare e progettare i terriotori contemporanei. Come progetto di coesistenza, il patchwork merita un ruolo di primo piano nel discorso urbanistico contemporaneo, per la volontà di ricercare un ordine, sia pur debole, in un territorio che ne è apparentemente privo e di affrontare uno dei più importanti temi dell'intera cultura occidentale: il rapporto tra l'uno e il molteplice . In 1989 the young Dutch architect Willem Jan Neutelings developed a project for the area in between Rotterdam and the Hague that was going to face, in the following years, a huge increment of population and activities. In this context Neutelings proposed his personal reinterpretation of the urban form called "De Tapijtmetropool" or “Patchwork Metropolis” . The analyses of his work has been the methodological pretext to further investigate the different declinations of the figure of the patchwork in the urban discipline from its origins, mainly related with the work of "The Regional Planning Association of America" and ecologists such as Richard T.T. Forman, until today. Interpreted as a general manifesto or as the explanation of a specific territorial configuration, the patchwork discourse crosses many of the preeminent topics of the modernity – the figure of the fragment, the issue of the peripheral condition and the territorial layout of the contemporary city – but also many other metaphors and researches – cities in between , the territory as a palimpsests , the city territory , the città diffusa , the archipelago city – preserving and enriching each time its precious ambiguity. The thesis is articulated in four parts that assemble a circular story that opens and closes in the same sector of the Dutch territory. Starting with a new reading of the Neutelings' manifesto (I) and finishing with the analyses of the political, social and territorial configuration of the Netherlands (IV), the research demonstrates retrospectively the presence of an implicit project, recognizing the elements and the typical working mechanisms of the patchwork model. The central part of this thesis (II-III) questions the operational validity of the patchwork metaphor for the urban discipline, aiming to transform the six-pages long article of Neutelings into a more coherent and grounded paradigm to interpret and design the contemporary territories. As a project of coexistence, the patchwork deserves a preeminent role in the contemporary urban discourse, for the willingness to seek an order, even if a weak one, in a territory which is apparently missing it and to address one of the most important themes of the entire Western culture: the relationship between the one and the multiple .

This chapter examines patterns of migrant settlement in London. The visibility of migrants in London often became associated with concentration in what contemporary observers often essentially regarded as ghettoes — from the Irish ‘rookery’ in St Giles during the eighteenth century to the Jewish East End by the late Victorian period to the ‘coloured quarter’ immediately after the end of the Second World War, focused especially upon the East End, but increasingly moving to other parts of the capital, including South London, especially around Brixton. By the beginning of the twenty-first century, the ethnic concentrations which had characterized the history of London became a feature of the entire metropolis, as a patchwork of ethnic concentrations developed. This apparent universalization of settlement based upon ethnic lines reflected the increasing numbers of migrants moving to London, as well as the growing diversification of these newcomers. Ghettoization, to the extent that it exists, offers just one way of understanding the living patterns of migrant populations in London.