Prof. Dr. Ulrike Guérot
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1 Prof. Dr. Ulrike Guérot Danube University Krems The Town of the European Republic Dear Rector of Lüneburg University, Dear Major of the Town of Lüneburg, Dear Richard David Precht as the Spin-doctor of this Utopia conference, Dear distinguished faculty & Guests, It is my utmost pleasure to open the Future Festival of University Lüneburg 2021. I am very thankful that the University of Lüneburg has framed the title of this Keynote: “The Town of the European Republic”. This is fantastic as it alludes to my own utopian design for Europe. It provides me with the opportunity to describe how I see the upcoming relationship between Europe and its towns in 2049, which is the year, which I set as starting year of the European Republic. To stimulate you visually, you will be seeing during my presentation – in the background - the poster of an initiative of twenty Italian majors, who decided to entitle – in the real (!) world - their cities “Città della Repubblica d’Europa”. i They have added “Città della Repubblica d’Europa” on their “Ortseingangsschilder”. Yet, perhaps it is a European problem that the online translation service Leo does not know a translation for “Ortseingangschilder”. J Yet, here we are: in some parts of Italy, the Town of the European Republic is not in the future, it is reality. I would love to see the town of Lüneburg reaching out to these Italian majors and becoming the first German Città della Repubblica d’Europa… In this short keynote – I was asked to talk for some 15 minutes in English and without PowerPoint – I will develop four aspects of the future Town of the European Republic: 1.) Firstly, I will go back to what were the role of the towns in the Middle ages. 2.) Secondly, I will briefly talk about the research of namely Saskia Sassen from Columbia University and talk about the networks of modern towns. 3.) Thirdly, I will touch upon some architectural features of these towns. 4.) Fourthly, I will focus on the political economy of rural/ urban divisions and I will sketch out some questions with respect to their governance. As this key note will be uploaded as PDF with some literature, references and charts, you can lean back and listen, and read or print it later again. 1. Let’s start with some spotlights on the historical role of towns. Towns are, were water is: rivers, lakes or Oceans. Paris or Vienna, Lyon or Prague, Marseille, Cologne or Hamburg are water towns. The social strata of a town follows the wind, which goes East in Europe. This is why the Bourgeoisie always lives West, whereas the dirty production areas are East. Towns were the first embodiments of democracy, meaning public action in the Aristotelian sense: the Ancient Agora in the Greek world were market places; the Republic of Venice or the Republic of Genua
Transcript of Prof. Dr. Ulrike Guérot
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Prof.Dr.UlrikeGuérot
DanubeUniversityKrems
TheTownoftheEuropeanRepublic
DearRectorofLüneburgUniversity,DearMajoroftheTownofLüneburg,DearRichardDavidPrechtastheSpin-doctorofthisUtopiaconference,Deardistinguishedfaculty&Guests,
ItismyutmostpleasuretoopentheFutureFestivalofUniversityLüneburg2021.IamverythankfulthattheUniversityofLüneburghasframedthetitleofthisKeynote:“TheTownoftheEuropeanRepublic”.ThisisfantasticasitalludestomyownutopiandesignforEurope.ItprovidesmewiththeopportunitytodescribehowIseetheupcomingrelationshipbetweenEuropeanditstownsin2049,whichistheyear,whichIsetasstartingyearoftheEuropeanRepublic.
Tostimulateyouvisually,youwillbeseeingduringmypresentation–inthebackground-theposterofaninitiativeoftwentyItalianmajors,whodecidedtoentitle–inthereal(!)world-theircities“CittàdellaRepubblicad’Europa”.iTheyhaveadded“CittàdellaRepubblicad’Europa”ontheir“Ortseingangsschilder”.Yet,perhapsitisaEuropeanproblemthattheonlinetranslationserviceLeodoesnotknowatranslationfor“Ortseingangschilder”.J
Yet,hereweare:insomepartsofItaly,theTownoftheEuropeanRepublicisnotinthefuture,itisreality.IwouldlovetoseethetownofLüneburgreachingouttotheseItalianmajorsandbecomingthefirstGermanCittàdellaRepubblicad’Europa…
Inthisshortkeynote–Iwasaskedtotalkforsome15minutesinEnglishandwithoutPowerPoint–IwilldevelopfouraspectsofthefutureTownoftheEuropeanRepublic:
1.) Firstly,IwillgobacktowhatweretheroleofthetownsintheMiddleages.2.) Secondly,IwillbrieflytalkabouttheresearchofnamelySaskiaSassenfromColumbiaUniversity
andtalkaboutthenetworksofmoderntowns.3.) Thirdly,Iwilltouchuponsomearchitecturalfeaturesofthesetowns.4.) Fourthly,Iwillfocusonthepoliticaleconomyofrural/urbandivisionsandIwillsketchoutsome
questionswithrespecttotheirgovernance.
AsthiskeynotewillbeuploadedasPDFwithsomeliterature,referencesandcharts,youcanleanbackandlisten,andreadorprintitlateragain.
1. Let’sstartwithsomespotlightsonthehistoricalroleoftowns.
Townsare,werewateris:rivers,lakesorOceans.ParisorVienna,LyonorPrague,Marseille,CologneorHamburgarewatertowns.Thesocialstrataofatownfollowsthewind,whichgoesEastinEurope.ThisiswhytheBourgeoisiealwayslivesWest,whereasthedirtyproductionareasareEast.
Townswerethefirstembodimentsofdemocracy,meaningpublicactionintheAristoteliansense:theAncientAgoraintheGreekworldweremarketplaces;theRepublicofVeniceortheRepublicofGenua
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wereindependenttowngovernments.The“FreieReichsstädte”inGermanyortheHansestädtewereactuallynotkeentointegratetheDeutschesReichofBismarck.Untiltoday,theofficialnameofHamburgis“FreieHansestadtHamburg”.LongbeforetheinventionofNation-States(or“Flächenstaaten”),townshademblemsandforgedthecoreidentityoftheircitizens.Townsweretheentitiesinwhichthepublicspherewasdeveloped:TheKingsandKurfürstenhadtheirresidenciesintown,whereastheChurchesoftenownedthecountrysideandthelands.Townswerealsotheplace,wherecivilizationdeveloped,asNorbertEliasdescribes:TheArtsandthebankingsystem,publicbathesorparks,theatreorconcerthalls:allareproductofurbanlivingculture.ii
EachTownhadtheirNoblesse:theFuggerofAugsburg,theMedici’sofMilano.ThisaccountsalsoforthosetownscalledtodaysecondaryortertiarytownssuchasBrünnorAntwerpen,WürzburgorBourdeaux,EdinburghorGdansk.Allhaveafeudalpast,whichmakestheirarchitecturalbeautyoftoday.Medievalballotsystems,towncouncilsor“Schöffengerichte”werepara-democraticorrepublicangovernancesystemsofthetownBourgeoisie.Untiltoday,FreieWählergemeinschaften,mostlyliberal,arekeytomanagetowns:Stralsundforinstancehassome40%shareof“FreieWählergemeinschaften”inlocalelections:Citizenscarefortheirtowns,beyondandindependentlyfromparties.
Lastly,butperhapsmostimportantly,townswereclosed.Therecitizens,whohadtownrights–andthoseexcludedfromthetowns:theGesindel,ragtag,peasants,themoboroutlawed.Townshadtownwallsandwaterbridges,tokeepthemallaway.Merchantsneededtownpassestosneakthroughthecitygate.Please,remindthelatterforthefollowing.
2. Networksoftownsarenothingnew.
TheHanseisprobablyoneofthemostexcitanthistoricaltowncooperationalongtheBalticsSea.Yet,townslonginghistoricaltraderoadsareequallyimportant,forinstancethetownsalongtheFrenchrouteforCommerceoftheChampagne,orthetownsalongtheSilkRoadfromBeijingtoBelgrade.AlineoftownsformswhatiscalledinEuropethe“BlueBanana”,stretchingfromAmsterdamtoVienna,TriestandBucharest.
ColumbiaProfessorSaskiaSassenhasshowninherresearchiiithatmoderntownshavemoreincommonthantownswiththeirown“Hinterland”.Forinstance,SaôPaolo,NewYorkandAmsterdamaretighttogetherthroughcoffeebeans,whicharecollectedaroundSaôPaolo,ratedatStockMarketsinNewYorkandshippedtoEuropaviaAmsterdamHarbor.Theeconomicbasisofthesethreegianttownsiscoffee.Amsterdam,ineconomicstrata,hasmoreincommonwithNewYorkthanperhapswithLeiden.GlassFiberorbroadbandconnectionsundertheearthoftheOceanslinkNewYorktoLondonorFrankfurt,butnotnecessarilyNewYorktoSaltLakeCity.Townnetworksfollowcommerceroutsandnotcountryborders.RegionalcapitalslikeMunich,DallasorBarcelonahaveinternationalrelationdepartmentsandsomethinglikea“foreignpolicy”asidefromtheirreciprocalstatedepartments.Townsactuallyshapepolicies.Itwasquiteamoment,whensomeAmericanTownslikeDetroitorPhiladelphiaannouncedtosticktheglobalclimategoalsoftheParisagreement,whereastheTrumpAdministrationhadwithdrawnfromit.AnneHidalgo,theMajorofParis,decidingon“GreenParis”,buildingvélo-streetsandbanningcarsmaydomoreforFrances’environmentalpolicythantheFrenchMinisterfortheenvironmentmay.IfyoubuyanelectricalvéloinParis,yougetsome400,-Eurocashfromthetownadministration.Townswilldrivethetransformationtoaclimateneutral,digitalandsustainablefuture–ifweagreeonthefact,that“sustainability”isnotalureforongoingconsumptionunderdifferent
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technologicalmodalitiesandsurfaces.ivUnfortunately,15minutesarenotenoughtodiscussindetail,whether“smart”isthenewcodefortheinfantilisationofhumankind.ThatiswhatstunningCatalanPhilosopherMarinaGarcèsfromUniversitySaragossawritesinherbook:“Foranew,radicalenlightment”.vItseemsasiftheworldhasdecidedthatadigitalizedworldisabetter,becausesmarterworld.Fortheremaining8minutesofmykeynote,Iwillsticktothisassumption.AlthoughIactuallybelievethatdigitalizationandArtificialIntelligenceisatechnictoreinstitutepatriarchate–controloverwomen–intimeswherewomenclaimtoomuchpower.
3. Leavingtheinfantilisationquestionaside,theTownoftheEuropeanRepublicwillbesmart&digital.
TheTownoftheEuropeanRepublicwillhave,asmainarchitecturalfeature,ahugetrainstationinitscore.Railwaystationswillbethenewairportsin2049,oneyearbeforeEuropeattainsclimateneutralityin2050.Thecurrentpandemictriggered,asoneofitsconsequences,theEuropeanRescuePackagefromJuly2020,worth750BillionEuro.Amongotherthings,themoneyisspendtobuildahigh-speedtrainnetinEurope,fromCopenhagentoBudapestandfromHamburgtoBarcelona.TheEuropeanhigh-speedtrainneedisthenewEuropeanSubway,namedMETROPA:youtakeforinstancetheMetropa-line6andyougostraightfromHamburgtoBarcelonain6stationsonly.viItisapitythattheEuropeanCommissioncouldnotbringtogethertheconsortiumbetweenSiemensandAlstomin2019,buildingaEuropeanhigh-speedtrain,butperhapsthingswillstillchange.Flyingtaxisusingsolarenergywillpickyouin2049fromtherailwaystationandbringyoutohotel,oraconducter-lesstram,likeinZurich.Atthehotel,anAndroidwillwaitforyouatthereceptionandleadyoutotheair-conditionedroom,whichyoupaywiththenewcryptocurrencytheECBhasbeenissuingintheyearsafterthepandemic.FriedrichvonBorrieshasdesigned,inaway,thefuturetownoftheEuropeanRepublicinhisbook“Weltentwerfen”.viiIfyouwanttogetafirstimpressionofthisfuturetownoftheEuropeanRepublic,Irecommendatriptothe17thArrondissementofParis,aformerBanlieuforworkers,closedtotheBoulevardClichyandverydirty.EmmanuelMacronhasdecidedtomovetheofficesofPalaisdeJusticetothisshabbyplaceandbuildanautonomousundergroundtraintothe17thArrondissement.Inaddition,acompletelynewarrangementofhousingblockswasbuiltforthecivilservantsworkingatPalaisdeJustice,withnew,energyneutralconstructionmaterial,mainlywoodandglass,surroundedbygreenplants.Noneofthesehousingblockslookssimilar;theyareallofdifferentstyle,colorandmaterial.Thehousingblocksgottheirsupermarketandtheirpark:aJapanese-styleRefugiowithplacesforsportsandforkidsandsomefountains,becausethearchitecturesanticipatedearthwarming.Someofthehousingblockshavelandingplacesfordronesevery10thfloororso.Thisfuturistic17thArrondissementisanexampleofwhatAnneHidalgocallsthe“15minutestown”:everythingyouneedisavailablewithin15minutes,bethatabakeryoradoctor.Insomeway,livinginParis(orBarcelonaorBerlin)willbesomehowmeaninglessin2049:youneverleaveyourKiez.The“15minutestown”willbeahorizontalnetworkof“Kiezes”orArrondissments,inwhichtheoldtownParisintramurosisnolongerthecenter.Metropolitanareasoragglomerationswillnolongerfunctionaroundmarketplaces,churchesorhistoricaloldtowns,featuringaCastleoraprominentmuseum(liketheUffizi,thePradoortheLouvre).Thiswillchangethesocialstrata:thenew17thArrondissementinParisis“Posh”,andnolongeraworkersspaceliketheold17thArrondissement.
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4. Whowillbein?
Therealquestion,similartothemiddleages,willbe,whoisinthe”15minutestown”–andwhonot?Moderngentrificationprocessesarepushingtheworkingclasspeople,migrantsandunderdogs–whichsomealreadycallthenewfeudalslaveryclassviii–evermoreoutsideofthetowns.Thenewpoliticalquestionthusmightbe:whohascitizens’rightsandwhonot?ThequestionofthepoliticallinkagebetweenthefuturetownsoftheEuropeanRepublicandtheirsurroundingsmightbecomethemostimportantthingtolookatinpoliticalscience:whocaresforthecountryside?Somesciencesfictionnovelspushthesegregationuptothefactthattowns,inthenearfuture,willbecometheonlyplaceswithdecentlivingconditions-forinstancefilteredairandconsumablewater,letalonemobilityorculturalinfrastructure-whereasthecountrysidewillincreasinglydeterduetonumerousenvironmentaldisaster.Ruralareaswillbecomethegarbagedepositofthemetropolitanareas,whereasvegetableandgreenswillbecultivatedininfraredgreenhouseswithinthetownsandmeatwillbeproducedinvitro.Livingintownswillbecomeafeudalprivilegeforthefewinthemiddleofdevastatedlandscapesforthemany.
Let’sassumeherethatthecounter-narrative,theoftendescribed“Landflucht”-trend,includingslow-foodagriculturewillnotmaterialize.Inthiscase,theemergenceoftownsasdominantpoliticalactors,butclosedentities,witheachhavingaslumfortheGesindelintheirsurroundings,willprobablybedecisiveforshiftsintheparliamentaryandrepresentativesystemsoftodays“Flächenstaaten”,whichallsufferfromasubstantialrural/urbanvoterdivide.CurrentelectiondatainEuropepointtoenormouscleavagesbetweenstructurallyweakanddepopulatedruralareasinwhichitishardtokeepanyinfrastructurealive;andtheMetropolitanareasor“Hipster”townsdraggingthebrains,wealthandculture.TheredandcosmopolitanViennasurroundedbyturquoise,ruralAustria,ortheEasternpartsofPolandindifferencetothesparklingtownsofWarsaw,Wroclaw,orGdanskareexamplesforthis.StudyingthepoliticalconnectionbetweentheRegionsandEuropeisthecoreideaofourresearchprojectREGIOPARL,whichyoucanvisitintheinternet.ix
WithintheREGIOPARLprojectwehavecollectedregionalpoliticiansworriesaboutthosedevelopments,demonstratingtheirhugeawarenessofphenomenalike“braindrain”,emigrationofregionalinhabitantstocitiesandregionsfallingbehindtheirdominantmetropolises.Hence,itwillbedecisivewhetherregionsareableandwillingtoshapetheirfutureproactively.OurfieldworkintheGerman-speakingcommunityinEastBelgiumcanbedescribedasgoodpractice,evenmoreassomekindoflaboratoryhowthiscouldwork:Futureregionshavetobecomecross-borderregionsforsure,usingmultilingualismandadministrativeandculturalsynergieswiththeirneighboringregionsinanintelligentandmeaningfulmanner.Concerningtheirrelationshipwiththeirmetropolises,regionalpoliticiansinEastBelgiumdiscussedthisasanadvantagesinceyoungerpeoplehavethechancetostudyinthemajorcitiesofthetriangleBelgium,FranceandGermanyandhencetendtostayintheregionalarea.
TheGiletJaunesinFranceareprecursorsforlandupraiseagainstthecosmopolitancitizensinthetowns,andinthis,theyresembletoLaVendée:thepeasantsupraiseof1793to1796againstthetroupesofthefirstFrenchRepublic,causingsome30.000death.ThebothdeindustrializedanddepopulatedareasoftheUK,theUS,PolandorFranceandelsewherearethefertilesolefornationalandpopulistforces.Thepoliticalquestionisthusobvious:mightweseeaprocessinwhichthetownssegregatefromtheruralareas?Mayweexperiencetheendofthe“Flächenstaat”?xMayweseeadevelopmentinwhichthecitizensofthetownsandthoseoftheregionsdon’tvotetogetheranylonger,asthecleavagesbetween
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themcannotbebridgedanylonger?Orworth,inwhichtheruralpeopleareoutlawedanddon’tvoteatall?Astateinwhichcitizenrightsareonlyforthoselivingintowns?
Thismaysoundbothhorrible,dystopian,andnotpossibleatalltoyou.Yet,thetaskofakeynoteistoprovoke.Therefore,IwouldliketotouchuponGiorgioAgamben’s“HomoSacer”xitheoryofsovereignty,inwhichheispeelingoutsovereigntyofthestatecontext,andreframingitas“righttoban”.Thosearesovereignwhohavetherighttobanothers.With–asforecastspredictxii–some70%ofpeoplethatwillbefallingoutoftheclassicalproductionprocessduetothealgorithmsociety,thequestioniswhetherthesepeoplewillalsofalloutofthepoliticaldeliberationprocess–awayforthemeritocraticelitesinthetownstosecuretheirownmetropolitanwell-being.ConceptssuchasUnconditionalBasicIncome,whichisalreadyisahugemovementinEurope,xiiistepinhere.Yet,feedingeconomically“superfluouspeople”doesnotmeantograntthempoliticalrights.Agamben’sHomoSaceristhemenwhoisworthless,butcannotbekilled.Heissimplybanned,meaningkickedofthepoliticalprocess,which,indigitalizedtimes,iseveneasiertodo.Banningpeopleonlineisverycheapinthe“smart”world:whoisnotontheplatformsofthetowns-say:whoisexcludedfromClubhouse-issomehownon-existentinpoliticalterms.Asthepost-pandemicworldhasmovedintoatwo-dimensionalsphereanyway,itisveryeasyNOTtoseealltheanalogueleft-behinda,allthesepostmodernHomoSacers,living–orstarving–outsideofthetownsandtheirfancyhomeofficeorhomeschoolingscreens.
Inconclusion:
BeforeIleafthefloor:ThisisobviouslynotthetownoftheEuropeanRepublicIwishtosee!Butweprobablyhavealotworktodoinordertofix-inacreativeway-theurban/ruralrelationshipbeforeitturnspoliticallynastyinEurope.InourresearchprojectatDanubeUniversity,wedevelopedamapinwhichweplacedthe52economicallymostimportanttownsofEurope,allintegrateddirectlyintotheglobalvaluechain.Withanalgorithm,wearrangedthattheyallget–innumbers-thesameamountofpopulationsurroundingthetown.Sometowns,whoarelighthousesinthedepopulatedareas,havealotofsurroundingspace;someotheraresmallterritoriesbecauseofthedensityofpopulation.WhatyouseeisamapofEuropewith52areas,whocovermoreorlessevenlytheEuropeanterritory.TheideaisthateachtownoftheEuropeanRepublicgetsentirelyresponsible–politicallyandeconomically-foritssurroundingsandthepeoplelivingthere,makingsurethateachtowninEuropehasthepoliticalburdenforthesameamountofcountrysidepeople.Thetowns,inaway,becomethenewstateentity-asitwasinthemiddleages.xivThese52areascouldbecomethepillarsofaverydifferentpoliticalrepresentationsysteminEurope,featuringahorizontalnetworkofregions,encompassingnationstateborders,witheachofthemhavinganimportanttownastheircenterpiece.Thesetownscoulddeploymoderntechnicsofcitizenparticipation,digitalagorasorcitizen’sassemblies,xvwhichanywaycannotproperlyfunctionin“Flächenstaaten”.
Thisisjustonefancyidea.ManyothersolutionsarepossibletokeepdemocracyandrightsforallcitizensaliveintheEuropeanRepublic,withoutbansandoutlawed.IfImadeyoucurious,comeandvisitourwebsite….
Thankyouverymuchforyourattention!
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CittàdellaRepubblicad’Europa
Clichy-BatignollesMartinLutherKinginParis
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iSeewebsiteCittàdellaRepubblicad’Europa,http://onedemos.eu/iiForabriefhistoryoftownssee“TheSquareandtheTower:Networks,HierarchiesandtheStruggleforGlobalPower”byNiallFerguson(2018)iiiSee„TheGlobalCity:NewYork,London,Tokyo“bySaskiaSassen(2001)ivForthisthesissee„DigitaleNicht-Nachhaltigkeit“byIngolfurBlühdorn(2020)v„FüreineneueradikaleAufklärung“byMarinaGarcès(2017)viSeewww.METROPA.euvii„Weltentwerfen“byFriedrichvonBorries(2016)viii„DieRückkehrderDiener:DasneueBürgertumundseinPersonal“byChristophBartmann(2016)ixwww.REGIOPARL.eux„DieGrößederDemokratie:ÜberdieräumlicheDimensionvonHerrschaftundPartizipation“byDirkJörke(2019)xi„Homosacer:DiesouveräneMachtunddasnackteLeben“byGiogioAgamben(2016)xiiStudiedesEuropäischenParlamentszurSituationderArbeit2040xiiiSeetheinitiativewww.UBIE.euxivThiscorrelateswithnewtrendsintheUS,where,likeinArizona,whichpassedlegislationallowingcompaniestherighttocreatetownswithfulltown-rights.Theemployeesbecome“citizens”basedonstocksandsharesofthecompanytheyneedtobuy.xvSeethevastcontemporaryliteratureonBürgerversammlungen(DavidvonReybrouck,GegenWahlen),www.buergerversammlung.de,DonnatelladellaPortaetc.
