Battle Readings is a regularly updated compilation of articles, essays, and opinion pieces relevant to the themes of the Battle of Ideas.
Choose a theme from the listing on the left to narrow your search, or view all readings.
Anna Minton, Penguin, 26 January 2012
The question, then, is how much control is too much? When, exactly, is space “taken out” of the commons?
Jeremy Németh, Urban Affairs Review, 2012
Given that since the beginning of the Great Recession the construction business has slowed dramatically and that some of the most popular cultural–and inventive retail–projects have been pop-up shops and food trucks, letting go of past conceptions of architecture’s permanence might be the most enduring design phenomenon of the 2010s.
Reena Jana, Smart Planet, 21 December 2011
The amount of previously developed land is growing at a faster rate than it is being used up, according to a report published today.
Christopher Hope, Daily Telegraph, 12 November 2011
The social web: Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and the host of other technologies that invite us to connect to each other through a variety of internet-based interfaces seem to be technologies that provoke existential questions. Who are we? What are we? Where are we going?
Rob Clowes, Culture Wars, 31 October 2011
The uncomfortable truth (for some) is the one told by Jane Jacobs, New York community campaigner back in the early 1960s: that local authorities cannot construct a ‘sense of community’.
Michael Owens, Independent, 17 October 2011
Andrew Simms and Rob Lyons debate whether the fracking process of gas extraction is safe
Rob Lyons & Andrew Simms, Guardian Comment is free, 23 September 2011
Austin Williams and Alastair Donald (editors), Pluto Press, 20 September 2011
Once the jewel of the Mediterranean, parts of Beirut are now in a state of shambles. Decades of civil war and Israel's bombardment five years ago has left some buildings pockmarked with bullet holes, others just bombed-out shells. But the buildings that survived bullets and bombs are now under threat from the wrecking ball.
Rebecca Collard, National (UAE), 16 September 2011
Liverpool is using its bruised beauty to its advantage. It won its bid to be the 2008 European Capital of Culture, which boosted tourism. The revamped city centre, reopened that year, is tasteful and modern; the nearby Albert Dock, once teeming with stevedores, bustles with bars and restaurants. The next step is to attract investment from overseas.
Economist, 3 September 2011
Rise of European populism: the revenge of politics?
"To contribute to Battle of Ideas is to add a few words to a giant, communal speech-bubble out of the gap-toothed mouth of British opinion. It is a strong reminder that the joys of free, uncalculated speech and the right to attack orthodoxies can in no way be assumed in 2012 – that we use them or lose them."
Piers Hellawell, composer; professor of composition, Queen’s University Belfast