New Urban World Journal: Vol 6 (1), March 2018

By Urban Shalom Publishing

The New Urban World Journal was started by the International Society of Urban Mission and is now published semi annually by the Urban Shalom Society. This edition is the second part of our series on the City We Need. Inspired by the United Nations' Habitat 3 and the New Urban Agenda, the journal explores themes related to creating city space

• Language: English
• Publisher: Urban Shalom Publishing
• Release date: Mar 15, 2018
• ISBN: 9781999779825

Book preview

1.pngThe New Urban World Journal is published by Urban Shalom Society with key partners Newbigin School for Urban Leadership, World Evangelical Alliance and Micah Global. The March 2018 issue is also sponsored by Bakke Graduate University, Nazarene Theological College and CMF international.

New Urban World

Vol. 6, no. 1 (March 2018)

Managing Editor

Andre Van Eymeren

Associate Editors

Bryan McCabe

Lynne Taylor

Doug Priest

Graphic Design

Amy Van Eymeren

Front Cover Photo

Nigel Smith

Publisher

Andre Van Eymeren, International Coordinator Urban Shalom Society

Key Partner - Micah Global

Sheryl Haw, Director

Editorial Correspondence

Email: [e-mail]

The journal is available to purchase through online book stores or for free download as a PDF from http://www.newurbanworld.org

Journal Origin

ISUM and NUW (ISSN 2201-0203) were established in 2012, in Klong Toey, Bangkok, Thailand, by the International Society for Urban Mission. The Journal is published semi-annually.

COPYRIGHT ©2018 Urban Shalom Publishing.

Print ISBN: 978-1-9997798-1-8

eBook ISBN: 978-1-9997798-2-5

Editorial Disclaimer:

Manuscripts published in New Urban World reflect the opinions of their authors and are not understood to represent the position of the Journal, its publisher, editors, ISUM, the Urban Shalom Society, or any other individual or group.

Contents

Editorial

The City We Need Is Safe, Healthy and Promotes Wellbeing

Response To: The City We Need Is Safe, Healthy and Promotes Wellbeing

Disparity: Reflections on Shalom and Leadership

The Cities We Need: Shalom and Cohesive Territorial Development

Response To: The Cities We Need: Shalom and Cohesive Territorial Development

Ingenuity and Struggle: Life in Manila’s Slums

Restoring Community to Communities

Response To: Restoring Community to Communities

Cities 2030, Cities For All

Educating for Urban Renewal

Good Fences Make Good Neighbors?

Editorial

Welcome to another edition of the New Urban World Journal. The second in our series focusing on The Cities We Need. This journey began with the ratification of the New Urban Agenda (http://habitat3.org/wp-content/uploads/NUA-English.pdf) at Habitat 3 in Quito, Ecuador in 2016. Since then the Urban Shalom Society (USS) has been very active, facilitating forums around the world focused on helping the Christian community engage in conversations and action toward the implementation of the agenda.

Included in our work was the co-sponsoring of the world’s first faith based U.N. supported Urban Thinkers Campus (UTC), which took place in Singapore last November. This was a multi-faith event aimed at creating a conduit for faith communities to be part of the global conversation on creating cities where people can thrive and flourish. The Campus saw the formation of the Inter Religious Council on Urbanism (IRCU). Still in its infancy, it is hoped that the network will be a connecting point for many faith groups and organisations who contribute to the building of better cities.

This journey and the forums have been a very exciting adventure, linking with people from all over the world who are passionate about following God’s heart for the creation of life giving spaces and places. As a movement, we are encouraged to be able to connect academics, leaders and practitioners from a range of spaces together for creative and constructive learning, dialogue and action.

As such, in this edition of the journal, Dr Bryan McCabe, Ps Jacob Bloemberg and I provide a brief report on these recent happenings of the Urban Shalom Society and ways you can become involved. We also continue to pick up the themes of The City We Need 2.0 (https://unhabitat.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/The%20City%20We%20Need%20TCWN%202.0.pdf). Dr Deirdre Brower Latz writes about the need for the city to be safe, healthy and in this way promote wellbeing. As an academic Brower Latz helps us to understand what safety looks like and how it can foster wellbeing for everyone in the city. Dr Jonathan Cornford an Australian practitioner and student of economics explores shalom and cohesive territorial development. He encourages us to envision urban structures that are wholesome and nurturing, and lead to the development of shalom. Our last feature article for this edition is by Celicia Paruag from Guyana. Coming from both the Christian not for profit and corporate worlds, Celicia documents the breakdown of community in her home city, but believes there is still hope for restoration.

We also have a number of columns that I’m sure you’ll find very valuable. Angie Harrison writes about the dangers of disparity; Dr David Wilson shares an approach to urban education being developed by the Centre for Building Better Community, in Melbourne. T. Aaron and Emma Smith share the hopes and struggles from Botocan the community they have called home for the last 10 years. As well, Nigel Smith an urban planner takes a fascinating look at the humble fence and what it says about us.

I hope you enjoy this edition of ‘New Urban World’ and that it can be a resource for you and your work.

Towards Shalom

André

The City We Need Is Safe, Healthy and Promotes Wellbeing

Dr Deirdre Brower Latz

As a woman choosing to live, work and serve in an urban environment - in an area of the city once notorious for anything but safety - I don’t know whether or not my experience is unique. Navigating the urban environment relies on a series of choices made: choices that impact life, its ordering and its practical realities. I walk down my own street, keys in hand, because I was taught, in a self-defense class, that keys could be a helpful weapon if targeting soft tissue. I hopscotch through the city from pool of light to pool of light, under the impression that light equals safety. My determination to look up occasionally (when looking down to avoid all manner of litter, excrement and God knows what else is normal) is a disciplined habituation of my mind. Because of these kinds of things, the argument in Principle 9 of the Cities We Need, that a city should be safe, healthy and a place promoting wellbeing caught my eye. I agree.

What does it mean to be safe? How is health measured? What does the city do to promote wellbeing? (What is wellbeing anyway?) The nuances of health, of flourishing, of thriving, and of how dwelling-places and conurbations become places where wellbeing is reality for all people are intriguing questions. How does my lifestyle choice of being an urban dweller map onto my wider life as an academic exploring the issues of social justice and (hopefully) inspiring others to take seriously the urban landscape of our time? In this article, I explore the concept of safety, health and wellbeing through the lens of social theology. Specifically, I highlight four theological concepts that can contribute towards the wellbeing, health and safety our cities need: hospitality; community and interdependence; storytelling and attentiveness.

hospitality

To be safe is, of course, both measurable and immeasurable. Safety is measured in police and crime databases. Safety is also an immeasurable feeling, working at the level of the subconscious. It seems that this notion of safety is partly related to whether or not one’s presence is welcome in a place, welcome in a way as to be fully accepted. Welcome (and hospitality), are