Binational Urbanism

Binational Urbanism

On the Road to Paradise

Author:Bernd Upmeyer

Publisher:Trancity*valiz

ISBN: 978-94-9209-506-0

  • Paperback
  • English
  • 224 Pages
  • May 1, 2015

Never before was the mobility of individuals higher than it is today. People work and live not only in different places, but often even in different countries. Binational Urbanism examines the way of life of people who start a second life in a second city in a second nation-state, without saying goodbye to their first city. They live in constant transit between two homes, between two countries.

Binational urbanists come from all strata of society, from the highly educated and cosmopolitan creative classes to the working class. Through their continuous change of location, binational urbanists appear to be living in a state that is characterized by a constant longing, or a constant homesickness, for the other city. The author interviewed people of Turkish origin currently living in Germany, who commute regularly between cities in Germany and Turkey. These people live, whether deliberately and consciously chosen or not, an innovative urban way of life. They are not rooted residents of their host country Germany, but are in fact extremely mobile and utilise the best of both cultures.

Never before was the mobility of individuals higher than it is today. People work and live not only in different places, but often even in different countries. Binational Urbanism examines the way of life of people who start a second life in a second city in a second nation-state, without saying goodbye to their first city. They live in constant transit between two homes, between two countries.

Binational urbanists come from all strata of society, from the highly educated and cosmopolitan creative classes to the working class. Through their continuous change of location, binational urbanists appear to be living in a state that is characterized by a constant longing, or a constant homesickness, for the other city. The author interviewed people of Turkish origin currently living in Germany, who commute regularly between cities in Germany and Turkey. These people live, whether deliberately and consciously chosen or not, an innovative urban way of life. They are not rooted residents of their host country Germany, but are in fact extremely mobile and utilise the best of both cultures.

Binational urbanism has the potential to become one of the most interesting forms of life in the twenty-first century. Accordingly, this book creates a theory of binational urbanism that is developed from these interviews.

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