Asia has become an immense theme park where Asians have become tourists in their own country. It is one of the great tragedies and one of the most interesting spectacles of the consequences of rapid urbanization.

China is at a point where it must deal with the consequences of unregulated economic growth. With over 80% of the Shenzhen population classified as temporary residents (floating population), the possibility of economic and social disaster is closer than ever. These transients, unable to find housing in the new developed city, seek refuge in “urban villages”—which is nothing but euphemism for slum. These villages lack basic services and modern conveniences that have long become the norm for the rest of the country— and yet they developed a close-knit social network of culture, community and business, they have become urban enclave within the city fabric. Some local governments view the population of these villages—as well as their makeshift architecture—as an “eye sour” that detracts from the image of the economic boom and prosperity that these governments are trying to promote. Instead of hiding—or demolishing–these urban villages, this structure gives them a defining presence felt throughout the city fabric – making the invisible, visible. The structure becomes the triumphal arch for Shenzhen, a welcoming image and reminder to people of the current crisis. Through the level of density vs. transparency of the proposed structure, it will serve as a barometer indicating the social health of the city.

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Emplazada en la frontera con los Estados Unidos, la dualidad cultural de Ciudad Juárez constituye un auténtico caso de estudio de ciudad bicéfala, con su contraparte especular, El Paso.

Se trata de un contexto con una fuerte segregación socio-econó-mica de una población mayoritariamente joven, donde el fuerte dinamismo económico, ligado a una gran industria ensambladora, está permeado por la violencia y la inseguridad. Su situación geográfica estratégica le confiere tantas ventajas como obstáculos, siendo una extensa mancha urbana de baja densidad, derivada de un proceso de expansión acelerado y de la ausencia de elementos de centralidad urbana.

El XIII Concurso Arquine convoca a desarrollar ideas para la intervención arquitectónica en una zona emblemática de la ciudad: un Media Park, orientado a la juventud, que contribuya a romper el escenario de violencia y frustración, al detonar el polígono semi abandonado de la Zona PRONAF (Programa Nacional Fron-terizo), creado en 1961. Los proyectos deberán generar un ámbito para la convivencia libre y segura, que sea a la vez un espacio de cultura y aprendizaje. Los referentes inmediatos de la convoca-toria podrían ser, en sus respectivos contextos, los parques-biblioteca de Medellín o el Media Lab del M.I.T.

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