African countries face unprecedented challenges of defining a future development pathway in a resource- and carbon-constrained world. This book addresses this challenge, with special reference to the set of infrastructure that most African countries require to meet the sustainable development goals and fulfil the aspirations of Agenda 2063. Infrastructure is a key factor that determines how resource and energy flow and transform through socio-economic systems. Decisions made today by African countries on their infrastructural configuration will determine the inclusivity, resource intensity and climate resilience of their development pathways for decades to come. This book is a product of a two‑year research conducted by a group of African scholars who have an extensive academic and practical experience on the development of key infrastructure sectors in Africa.

Circular economy opens a new domain for architectural design, where architecture is focused on its production and disposal cycles, and the process is intended as the final outcome of the project. The circular paradigm is the product of the political discourse and critical attitude which are globally questioning the use of natural resources and the origins of goods. As a model of production and consumption aiming to recover the retained value in waste and optimize resource utilization, the circular framework is one of the most radical thinking patterns of contemporary age, developing specific cultural and social attitudes.

This book aims to provide a cross-sectorial assessment in a multidisciplinary and trans-cultural context onto the innovations in urban and architectural approaches in designing next human environments within the Albanian context. The continuous concentration of the world population in the urban areas and their consequent densification require even more quantity of quality spaces and places, integrated resources and energies, alternative modalities of mobility and transports, demand of social inclusion and need for a circular economy. These have become the major challenges for this 21st Century and some of the greatest problems facing humanity in most of current vision for the future. The main objective is to feed a debate about the emerging trans-cultural (and trans-national) approaches in the whole designing field, from Albanian context and its current good practices, attempts and faults, both formal and informal. Thus, the Albanian experience may represent an opportunity through which we all may reflect about how designing is evolving in the Mediterranean arena of “praxis and experiments” aimed to a better quality of life at the human scale and in expanding the concepts of “place and space” such as it has improved by the effects in designing innovations. This book represents a useful read of theories, experiences and case studies, which can help in enlarging reflection on how the designing practice is evolving in the arena of forthcoming development strategies and tactics, all addressed to improve the quality of life, places and spaces. Additionally, it provides a range of architecture and urban design rationales and strategies for reinforcing identities and creating memorable places within the quality of contemporary architecture and urbanism. It addresses the unique needs of architects and planners to deal with topics that cut across social, economic and environmental issues and shows readers how to explore methods, theoretical frameworks and techniques to address the complex needs of architecture, urban and cultural development.

The City on Display: Architecture Festivals and the Urban Commons reflects on the biennials, triennials, and other festivals of architecture and design that have been held over the last two decades, as they expand and transform in response to the exigencies of ‘planetary urbanisation’. Joel Robinson examines the development of these large-scale, international, and perennial exhibitions as they address such challenges as urban regeneration, heritage preservation, climate change, and the migration crisis. Homing in on examples of festivals in Venice, Rotterdam, Oslo, Tallinn, Sharjah, Seoul, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong, the author describes how they alter the public spaces that host them, either through civic boosterism and gentrification, on the one hand, or through a reassertion of the urban commons and the right to the city, on the other hand. He attempts to thematise the architecture festival's relationship with the city and interrogate its potential as a forum for global debate about the emergencies of the urban condition. This book will be beneficial for students and academics of architecture and urbanism, and especially those who have an interest in how the city gets exhibited at such festivals and even reimagined as something other than it currently is.

This catalogue includes detailed description of the main 5th IABR 2012 and other exhibitions being organized in Rotterdam and Almere, on exhibitions which are set to be open later in 2012 in Istanbul and Sāo Paulo; on the conferences, lectures and other activitties planned during the opening weeks of 5th IABR 2012.