Global Cities at Tate Modern

"Global Cities looks at the changing faces of ten dynamic international cities: Cairo, Istanbul, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Mumbai, São Paulo, Shanghai and Tokyo.

Exploring each city through five thematic lenses – speed, size, density, diversity and form – the exhibition draws on data originally assembled for the 10th International Architecture Exhibition at the 2006 Venice Biennale. This unique show presents existing films, videos and photographs by more than 20 artists and architects to offer subjective and intimate interpretations of urban conditions in all ten cities.

As Global Cities takes place in one of the focus cities, the exhibition uses London as a touchstone for comparison. New commissions by a group of six artists and architects – Nigel Coates; Zaha Hadid & Patrik Schumacher; Fritz Haeg; OMA*AMO/Rem Koolhaas; Nils Norman; and Richard Wentworth – explore the local context through issues such as sustainability, public space and social inclusion.

Density – the number of people living in a given area, usually expressed as people per square kilometre – is at the centre of public debate on the future growth of cities. Used as a planning tool, awareness of density can help to curtail over-development and overcrowding, or ensure that scarce urban land is not under-used, especially in areas with good public transport and social amenities. High density does not mean high-rise; large numbers of people can be accommodated in five- or six-storey buildings arranged in a compact and efficient manner, creating congenial places for living.

Good design can produce desirable neighbourhoods in cities across the world by balancing dense development with access to open space and good transport. Dense urban environments can create sustainable cities; more dispersed developments use up more land and need more infrastructure – water, gas, electricity, roads – with negative impacts on the environment. High density housing can be associated with poverty and overcrowding, especially in the slums of developing countries. However, good design can produce desirable neighbourhoods in cities across the world by balancing dense development with access to open space and good transport – as evident in some of the most successful neighbourhoods in London, Paris and New York.

The four models shown in this section compare, at the same scale, the number of people living within the administrative boundaries of four of the ten cities featured in the exhibition. The peaks show the highest residential densities, with the largest number of people concentrated in a square kilometre. They range from the high-density of Cairo and Mumbai to the more dispersed, but bounded London (contained by the Green Belt) and the sprawling Mexico City."

via Creative Review