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"Even if it is full of love, all a ghost can do is haunt."

or, the limitation of the medium | In stillness, terror. musings

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We’ve gotten so used to the idea that glassy towers and grandiose waterfront promenades are the marks of a so-called world-class city that we often forget how these places started out: messy and smelly and loud. Scrappy. Poor. What looks like filthy chaos at the moment is actually the kinetic energy that gives birth to modern metropolises.

Will Doig, a journalist covering urban development. He has been an editor at the Open Society Foundations, Next City, Salon, and The Daily Beast. He lives in New York City. High-Speed Empire is his first book. (via allaboutmessy)

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India, Mumbai by Maciej Leszczynski

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I don’t believe in ghosts but I do believe places can be haunted by meaning. Places change, not always for the better and not always by natural, benevolent or politically sound means. A place can be charged with atmosphere because of what it has been through or what it has been.

Bibio

BIBIO: CHAPEL CELYN (2017)

A beautiful and atmospheric video, which blends an original electronic score with footage of several abandoned settlements, including underwater imagery of the titular North Wales village. Chapel Ceyln was flooded in the 1960′s to provide a reservoir for Liverpool’s water supply, a move for which Liverpool Council apologised 40 years later: “We realise the hurt of 40 years ago when the Tryweryn Valley was transformed into a reservoir. “For any insensitivity…we apologise and hope that the historic and sound relationship between Liverpool and Wales can be completely restored.”

(via architectureandfilmblog)

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The struggle is real <3

“People take you to fun places when you’re five, but unfortunately you also have to study difficult topics.  Today I had to write ‘toothbrush’ in all capital letters.” (Madrid, Spain)

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Since yesterday, two friends and I started supporting the https://queestapasando.home.blog platform by translating the news from the crisis in #Venezuela to English.

If anyone needs more details or wants to have a deeper conversation about the issue, I am always available to talk about it. Just DM me. As a Venezuelan seeing all of this from outside, informing others is all I can do to support my people.

Please help us share what is happening in our country! You can find the #DailySummary in our Twitter accounts (@nikolai_em, @andres1907 and @eleguedez). Thanks again!

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@iamrishabjindal on instagram

Mid-rise, mixed-use, multi-modal, and green Looks like the future for me

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What is happening in Venezuela? 3/3 - Border crisis (Up to February 23rd, 2019)

Previous posts on humanitarian and political context.

  The humanitarian aid plan:

- International humanitarian aid (food and medicines) was supposed to enter Venezuelan territory this Saturday 02/23 on trucks through the Colombian and Brazilian borders, and by a ship from Curazao.

- On the 22nd, thousands of volunteers from all over Venezuela and Colombia mobilized to the border to help carry out the process.

  Repression at the border:

- On the night of the 22nd, repression started in the southern town of Santa Elena de Uairen (next to the Brazilian border) where indigenous communities in support of the aid were attacked by the National Guard forces, resulting in a woman being murdered.

- On the 23rd, in an attempt by volunteers and National Assembly members to get the aid into Venezuela, the National Guard and Police burned three of four trucks coming from Colombia.

- Among flames and heavy repression from Venezuelan police forces, volunteers tried to salvage the supplies before they caught fire; keeping some of it safe back in Colombian territory.

- The ship coming from Curazao was threatened by the Venezuelan navy once it got close to its waters, so they had to turn back, and it is now waiting in Bonaire.

  Reactions from the military:

- Given the tensions in the border, more than 100 military members have crossed to Colombia so far and recognized Juan Guaido as President.

  The Venezuelan side:

- Most of what you hear and see comes from the Colombian side of the border, where international media has been able to show the world what’s happening.

- In the Venezuelan side of each entry point, repression has been severe. The only information about it has come from volunteers and locals reporting through social media.

- Nine different Venezuelan states reported that their local protests had been attacked by paramilitary armed groups in favor of Maduro. A big part of the regime's tactics to gain social control has been the arming of said paramilitary groups who are loyal to them and work in coordination with government armed forces to suppress the opposition.

  Results:

- Four people were killed during yesterday's events. Four more are still to be confirmed.

- 295 were injured all over the country, most of them in border towns with Colombia and Brazil.

- 9 Pemones —indigenous Venezuelan people— were taken by the military and are still missing. Entire Pemón communities are being forced out of their villages due to violence.

- The fourth truck with aid coming from Colombia and the one coming from Brazil turned back to remain safe on the other side of the Venezuelan borders.

- Tomorrow (February 25th) most Latin American presidents will meet with Guaidó to discuss what happened and determine new joint actions to face the crisis. Mike Pence (US Vice President) will also attend the meeting.

  Finally, the world has seen firsthand what Venezuelans have gone through for the past 20 years. Venezuela is a country kidnapped by a gang of criminals that threatens the whole region.

 I have tried to include all the facts that are relevant and help explain the complex Venezuelan situation. However, it is hard because a lot of things happen every day and I’m emotionally attached to the situation.

 Feel free to ask anything, I’ll explain whatever is necessary.

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What is happening in Venezuela? 2/3 - Presidency dispute and political context

Previous post on the humanitarian crisis context. Next post on international situation and border crisis.

  Juan Guaido as interim president:

- The National Assembly is the last democratically elected body left in the country. When the opposition won those elections, Maduro created a parallel legislative body only with his supporters and claimed that the Legitimate National Assembly was unconstitutional.

- Illegal presidential elections were held in 2018 but not recognized under our constitution. Therefore, In January 2019 Maduro’s presidential term came to an end.

- Without any legitimate president to take the seat, the president of the National Assembly, Juan Guaido, took the seat as interim president to call for elections and re-establish democracy (mandated in Art. 233 and 350 of the Venezuelan Constitution).

- Immediately, massive protests began all over the country in support of the National Assembly's move.

  International support:

- Guaido and the National Assembly's legitimacy have been recognized by more than 50 nations (most Latin American countries, the US, Canada, and the European Union).

  The Venezuelan military:

- Maduro keeps the support of the high-rank Venezuelan military. Most of them are related to drug trafficking groups and severe corruption cases.

- Since January 23rd, some mid and low-range military members have recognized Guaido as president and have been forced to leave the country.

- As the humanitarian crisis is the biggest problem we face, Guaido called for the support of the international community to address the issue.

- Since this set of events started, the plan has been to gain the support of the Venezuelan military and let the aid in.

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What is happening in Venezuela? 1/3 - Humanitarian crisis context

Next posts on the political context and the border crisis.

 Venezuela is undergoing a severe humanitarian crisis. Here are some numbers:

- Venezuelan inflation rate reached 2,500,000% in 2018. It is expected to reach 10,000,000% at the end of 2019.

- More than 70,000 HIV patients are not receiving treatment.

- Maternal mortality increased by 65% and child mortality by 30%.

- At least 1,557 patients have died in the last three months in Venezuelan hospitals due to lack of treatment.

- 75% of Emergency Rooms lack morphine and 66% lack blood pressure treatment.

- People face a 90% scarcity of products in pharmacies and supermarkets.

 All this is aggravated by the food crisis and rampant violence:

-80% of households are in a situation of food insecurity and the average Venezuelan lost 11 kilos in 2017 (25 pounds).

- 48% of pregnant mothers suffer from malnutrition.

- The government hasn’t published health data since 2015 and homicide data since 2012.

- Around 40% of homicides in Caracas are perpetrated by police officers in low-income communities to silence their discomfort.

- More than three million Venezuelans have left the country amid the crisis. Most of them have done so by foot, crossing the Andes mountains to find better opportunities in neighboring countries.

- The Venezuelan exodus has been the biggest in Latin American history, affecting the whole region.

- Only in 2018, there were 12,715 protests across the country.

 Additionally, political persecution and repression have risen with the crisis:

- Between April and July 2017, more than 120 people were killed, around 2,000 injured, and more than 5,000 detained for protesting.

- So far in 2019, over 40 people have been killed because of protesting.

- During the last week of January, 988 people were illegally detained. 137 of them were minors.

- Many of those detained have been tortured and murdered while in police custody.

 “Why can't I see that on the news?":

- There is no freedom of speech in Venezuela. All TV networks and newspapers have been silenced. State-owned networks are the only ones currently on air.

- Venezuelans can ONLY see the news online and through social media, which is not accessible to everyone.

- 19 media workers have been deported and, in only one week of January 2019, at least 11 more were detained.

 This crisis has been going on for years now. Just until January 2019, international sanctions aimed only to individual assets of the regime members, not the national economy. It is extremely ignorant to say that sanctions are to blame for the crisis.

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Spring must be around the corner because my seasonal Earthbound nostalgia is kicking in.

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Que este sentimiento sea eterno.

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A renewed search for definition in the planning field is underway today. Aaron Wildavsky's (1973) challenge, "If planning is everything, maybe it's nothing," has echoed ever louder over the years. Planning's broad relevance and its interdisciplinary inclusiveness have served as both a strength and a vulnerability. Ever adaptable, the planning field has continued to evolve in many directions, and in academia it provides a big tent that shelters scholars trained in many more disciplines than planning alone. One emphasis that has been identified as central to the intellectual and professional identity or mission of planning is "foresight" (Markusen 1998), "a focus on the future and pathways of change over time" (ACSP 1997, 223), or "persuasive storytelling about the future" (Throgmorton 1992). Recent writers have proclaimed the future orientation of planning as unique to the field's identity and have called for renewed focus and development of future-oriented skills. The reasons for planning's special relationship to the future are fundamental. Evident to many is that the very purpose of a plan or the action of planning is to prepare for future activity. Planners seek not to merely predict but to create better futures. The very substance of urban planning is founded in time, because the process of urban development unfolds over decades. No matter how present-focused may be current debates and decision-making, the actual construction of individual buildings and public works takes place over years and even decades or more. Thus a concept that was approved in the present can only take shape and wield its intended physical or economic effects in the future. In turn, once built, these projects will live on for decades more into the future. In fact, urban planning has been singled out by futurists as a special case where a future orientation is most required: "It is safe to say that nowhere in the society are people's futures mortgaged so far ahead as when the municipalities plan housing projects, earmark uses of land and build highways" (passage from a report by the Swedish Secretariat for Future Studies, quoted in May 1996, 35). For all these reasons, decision-making in planning cannot avoid addressiug the future. Indeed, the future may be our major raison d'etre.

Dowell Myers and Alicia Kitsuse {Constructing the Future in Planning: A Survey of Theories and Tools)

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The Mercator projection vs the true size of each country.

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