Greg Clark – författare

After two decades of evolution and transformation, London had become one of the most open and cosmopolitan cities in the world. The success of the 2012 Olympics set a high water-mark in the visible success of the city, while its influence and soft power increased in the global systems of trade, capital, culture, knowledge, and communications.

The Making of a World City: London 1991 - 2021 sets out in clear detail both the catalysts that have enabled London to succeed and also the qualities and underlying values that are at play: London''s openness and self-confidence, its inventiveness, influence, and its entrepreneurial zeal. London’s organic, unplanned, incremental character, without a ruling design code or guiding master plan, proves to be more flexible than any planned city can be.

Cities are high on national and regional agendas as we all try to understand the impact of global urbanisation and the re-urbanisation of the developed world. If we can explain London''s successes and her remaining challenges, we can unlock a better understanding of how cities succeed.

After two decades of evolution and transformation, London had become one of the most open and cosmopolitan cities in the world. The success of the 2012 Olympics set a high water-mark in the visible success of the city, while its influence and soft power increased in the global systems of trade, capital, culture, knowledge, and communications.

The Making of a World City: London 1991 - 2021 sets out in clear detail both the catalysts that have enabled London to succeed and also the qualities and underlying values that are at play: London''s openness and self-confidence, its inventiveness, influence, and its entrepreneurial zeal. London’s organic, unplanned, incremental character, without a ruling design code or guiding master plan, proves to be more flexible than any planned city can be.

Cities are high on national and regional agendas as we all try to understand the impact of global urbanisation and the re-urbanisation of the developed world. If we can explain London''s successes and her remaining challenges, we can unlock a better understanding of how cities succeed.

Oslo Learning to Fly offers the first comprehensive presentation of the radical transformation of this former sleepy village into an emerging world city. Oslo has been among the fastest growing cities in Europe for decades and this book spans from the conversion of a major shipyard into the multi-use borough Aker Brygge in the late 1980s, and into 2030 when the transformation to a post-industrial city will be complete.

Inside, the philosophy and principles behind Oslos urban development are revealed and the book may be used both as a tool-kit for urban practitioners in post-industrial cities, and as a gift book for people all over the world who want to familiarise themselves with the Oslopolitan way of life and with how to do the noblest art of them al: the art of city making.  

Oslo Learning to Fly is divided into four chapters. Chapter 1 is dedicated to the harbour landscape of the Fjord City, Chapter 2 to the managing of growth through hub densification, Chapter 3 is about transformation and refinement of the already existing urban fabric, and Chapter 4 covers the relevance of so-called third places and their importance in enabling the concept of community.

And please, dont leave me on the coffee table. Im made for walking. Bring me with you when you walk the streets of Oslo, and use me as a treasure map to discover the secrets of the city.

Erling Fossen is a human geographer and self-proclaimed urban doctor. He is currently the project leader of Oslo Metropolitan Area a non-profit organisation devoted to urban development in the Greater Oslo.