Navigating a Petroleumscape: Shaping transnational oil modernity at the crossroads of global flows and local territories

The thesis explores Ahwaz's transformation throughout the 20th century, emphasizing the profound impact of the oil industry on the city's architectural and urban development. From its emergence in obscurity to its prominence before the Iran-Iraq war, Ahwaz's journey mirrors the far-reaching influence of oil on urban modernity. The narrative...

Liquid Territories: Configurations of geographic space in the cartographic projections of the Mekong River’s catchment areas

The role played by the Mekong River in the organization of land and people is inextricably linked with a particular spatial category. The concept of the hydrological catchment extends the space of the river far beyond the limits of the river’s perennial waterbodies, to encompass vast areas inhabited by millions of people speaking different...

An Inhabitable Infrastructure: Rethinking the architecture of the bazaar

The aim of this thesis is twofold. First, it offers a ‘theoretical reading’ of a historically important architectural entity – namely the bazaar – in order to propose a synthetic understanding of its complexity and to explore the multiplicity of forces and regimes involved in the bazaar’s [historical] formation. Second, by conceptualizing the...

Assemblage Theory, Ecology and the Legacy of the Early Garden City

This study examines ideas that were drawn together by Ebenezer Howard (1850-1928) in his formulation of the Garden City concept originally published in 1898 in his influential book Tomorrow; A Peaceful Path to Real Reform, and subsequently developed at the first Garden City at Letchworth in 1903. Howard readily acknowledged his influences, which...

The institutionalisation of European spatial planning

This book questions whether and how European spatial planning is becoming institutionalised. Since the first steps towards creating spatial planning at the European level were taken some twenty years ago, it seems appropriate to look back at what has been achieved over this period. Notable achievements have been the adoption of the European...

Railways in the urban context: An architectural discourse

Railway and city have coexisted for more then 150 years. The realization of railroads in the 19th century can be seen as an important contribution to the development of the city. But during the making of railroads there was too little consideration for the overall picture of the city. The result is that today the railway is entangled with the...

A global economic integration zone in Central Europe? Vienna-Bratislava-Györ as a laboratory for EU territorial cohesion policy

Central Europe is facing dramatic changes and huge challenges since the 40 years closed borders opened up. As part of central Europe the Vienna-Bratislava-Gyor area that straddles Austria, Hungary and Slovakia, faces new opportunities for co-operation and integration. The book gives a fascinating view of the practice of European policy making on...