Each of the particular newspaper has an independent title and focus.

Amman – Neoliberal Urban Management

The Amman newspaper focuses on the issue of “Neoliberal Urban Management”, where detailed analyses of the neoliberal policies and investments are juxtaposed with projects that stress the need for a deeper understanding of how cities function in this region. “Neoliberal Urban Management” is edited by Rami Farouk Daher.

Beirut – Mapping Security

The Beirut newspaper edited by Mona Harb, Mona Fawaz, Ahmad Gharbieh focuses on “Mapping Security”, a tour‐de‐force investigation on the city’s obsession with the notion of security. Looking into how security re‐shapes the city physically as well as the underlying historical and political transformations, the newspaper uncovers Beirut as a laboratory of extremes in terms of Urbanism. Mainly undertaken by Urban Planning and Architectural academics from the American University in Beirut, the 12 essays, 14 sets of mapping different dimensions of how security is manifested, as well as a number of case works, figures, and cartoons reflect on how security is a definitive aspect of the city, and how the inhabitants live in and experience it.

Istanbul – Living in  Voluntary and Involuntary Exclusion

The Istanbul newspaper edited by Tansel Korkmaz, Eda Unlu‐Yücesoy with Yaşar Adanalı with the title: “Living in Voluntary and Involuntary Exclusion” focuses on the segregation and fragmentation taking place in the city, with the impact of neo-liberal policies and related regeneration projects causing distress in many neighbourhoods that face eviction. Bringing together academics, planners, architects, activists, as well as representatives of the official policy making processes the publication includes 15 text pieces (essays, articles, interviews); 5 case studies on specific sites in the city; and 7 maps of the city that reflect the dynamics of exclusion and the actor institutions playing a part in this process.

Cairo – Rexilience: The City as Personal Practice

The Cairo newspaper edited by Dr. Dina Shehayeb and Shahira Issa in collaboration with Ahmed Zaazaa, was titled as “Resilience: The City as Personal Practice”. The research traces the tension between segregated enclaves and mixed urban environments vis‐a‐vis the relationship between centralized/state planning and self-design. Revisiting the city as a ceaseless personal practice the publication considers what role architecture and urban planning can have, and examine the possibility of realizing a design open to further appropriations.

Diwan is a traditional Islamic concept with multiple meanings related to the notion of hospitality, receiving strangers and staging political debates. It can describe a piece of furniture or seating arrangement, an enclosed space or an institution or council. In Persia, diwan describes a published collection of poetry, and diwani is a calligraphic variety of the Arabic script.

“The motivations for individuals or groups or entire communities to “seek refuge” are extremely varied and challenge the traditional understanding of “refugee-hood” which is often applied to political or economic refugees only. In the context of this exhibition, “seeking refuge” is not only defined as an involuntary response to direct threat, physical danger, social or political pressure, persecution, exclusion or eviction. It is also defined as the exchange of familiar surroundings with a better place, can be motivated by desire to live in another part of the city reflecting status and prestige, considered more appropriate to individual or family needs, offering exclusive life-styles, the escape of social or cultural constraints, or the realisation of personal dreams. In this case, seeking refugee can take the form of voluntary seclusion, in some cases even withdrawel from the city and broader responsibilities towards society at large. Beyond a selfish rejection of participation in the civil life of the city, “seeking refuge” might also be triggered by a desire to retreat to a place which provides for re-charging, re-energizing, contemplation, reflection or simply necessary escape from the madness of the globalized city at large.”

Philipp Misselwitz, Can Altay