IDENTITY IN THE GLOBAL WORLD

JR Inside Out Project in London, 2013

In the panel discussion (in)Fluence at Strelka, Markus Dochantschi pointed out a possible scenario where people would have their identity build upon the cities they choose to live instead of the places where they are born. An identity one chooses for him/herself. No matter where your were born and what are your beliefs, culture and values, you can still be a new yorker, a londoner, a moscovite.   

This dialogs with what Ricky Burdett answered when asked about the topic: the multiplicities of cultures existing in London transforms the identity of the city, and therefore architecture and urban planning should contribute to the establishment of a british culture that absorbs all other references, not as something apart from them (which would be the generator of social exclusion and ghettos).   

Global cities are about an addition of identities rather than a generalization or homogenization of them.