Appel à communication pour le colloque de l’Association italienne d’histoire urbaine

Plusieurs collègues nous signalent qu’ils organisent des sessions au  9^ème Congrès AISU 2019 The Global City. The urban condition as a pervasive phenomenon, qui se tiendra à Bologne (Italie) du 11 au 14 septembre 2019 (http://www.storiaurbana.org/index.php/en/).

Il est encore temps de soumettre une proposition à une session, jusqu’au 31 janvier 2019.

Les propositions de communication doivent être soumises en utilisant le formulaire désigné sur le site, et envoyées au responsable de la session ainsi qu’au secrétariat de la conférence (congresso@storiaurbana.org) au plus tard le 31 janvier 2019. Les propositions consisteront en un résumé entre 1 500 et 2500 caractères, donnant également les noms, l’affiliation, l’adresse courriel institutionnelle du ou des proposants, ainsi qu’un bref profil biographique.
La conférence se déroulera en italien et en anglais.

On nous signale en particulier:

• la session de Simona Talenti sur “Strategies and instruments for reconstruction in post-war Europe”
• la session d’Emma Maglio intitulée Permanence and transience between urban and rural worlds: modern Europe and Mediterranean (15th-18th century), qui a été insérée dans la macro-session «Urban/Rural: identifications, contaminations, policies, cultural heritage».
• la session intitulée Foreign concessions in Chinese towns, from the global city to national heritage, coordonnée par Yue Lu, Christine Mengin, Thomas Renard et située dans la Macro-session 1: Mobility and  interculturality. The city facing new relational systems. Résumé ci-dessous

Between 1860 and 1947, nine foreign powers – the United Kingdom, France, the United States, Germany, Japan, Italy, Austria-Hungary, Russia and Belgium – shared 15 Ha in the immediate vicinity of the Chinese city of Tianjin. These concessions and their relationship with the Chinese city formed a real microcosm of the first globalization, in which the agenda of the modern city was defined. The history of Tianjin is emblematic of an intercultural cooperation project to define a form of urban and political modernity based on an imperial and violent history (perhaps the most emblematic episode of which remains the Boxer revolt and its repression).

The creation of concessions is accompanied by the construction of new urban spaces incorporating Western architecture and construction techniques. This implantation of European spaces in non-European territory confronts two urban traditions – Western and Chinese – and invites us to question the impact of globalization on urban areas. While architectural vocabulary tended to bring out the national image – much like the rue des nations visible within the world fairs – the urban form of streets and parcels gave a strong homogeneity to the western sector. It is built in contact with, and in opposition to the “native city” of the old Chinese neighbourhood.

In addition to the historical and spatial study of the concessions and their relationship with the Chinese city, we would like to discuss the current fate of this sector, from the former Tientsin to the current Tianjin. In recent years, the municipal government seems to have considered the vestiges of the concessions as tourist and economic opportunities. This process of patrimonialization is made possible by an evolution in the perception of concessions, no longer only as a trace of the former imperialist presence, but more as a sign of modernity, capable of attracting new mobility, linked with tourism and creative industry. The development of this architectural heritage raises the question of its past and future, and the insertion of the heritage of the first globalization in current urban modernization.

The study of Tianjin touches different aspects of urban history whose documentation must be researched in many countries. We welcome scholars from different countries dealing with architectural and urban history of Tianjin as well as its current patrimonialization. These aspects could be put in perspective with that of other concessions held by foreign powers on Chinese Territory.

Coordinators :

Yue Lu, luyue_2009@hotmail.com

Christine Mengin, christine.mengin@univ-paris1.fr

Thomas Renard, thomas.renard@univ-nantes.fr

We invite submission of abstracts between 1500 and 2500 characters to be submitted to session coordinators, as well as conference organizers (congresso@storiaurbana.org) using the form found following this link :

Notification of acceptance will be made by 31 March 2019.  Papers will be due 31 May 2019. After the conference, we plan to publish the papers in a special issue of a review