Fadi Shayya participated in the two-day international seminar “PhD Seminar on Public Space” organized by the Chair of Spatial Planning and Strategy (Department of Urbanism/Faculty of Architecture) and the Department of Urban Renewal and Housing (OTB Research Institute for Housing, Urban, and Mobility Studies). The seminar brought together scholars from fields of architecture, sociology, urban geography, cultural anthropology, and spatial planning to share international and interdisciplinary perspectives in studies of public space, through the themes of public space and neighborhood quality, public space interventions and politics of public space.
The seminar was dedicated to the presentation and discussion of selected papers from PhD students from all over the world, under the leadership of ranking scholars in the field: Professor Talja Blokland (Humboldt University Berlin, Germany & OTB Research Institute, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands), Professor Matthew Carmona (Bartlett School of Planning, University College London, United Kingdom), Professor Rob Shields (Faculty of Arts, University of Alberta, Canada). Also, the seminar included a field-trip to various ‘public space-scenes’ in the city of Rotterdam.
The PhD Seminar was held at the Faculty of Architecture, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands between 19 and 20 March 2009. A journal publication will be announced later.