Factoring cities: urban landscapes from diagnosis discourse in the digital financial era

Abstract

This paper presents the global urban dynamic by the transformations of the recent changes and new century. The proposal is identifying the characteristics of the most recent modernization process considering the Rem Koolhaas’ reflections about the consumption logic that guides most urban interventions. In addition to the urbanization process in strategic points of the planet conditioned to globalization, information technologies and the financial market. The Koolhaas’ terms describe them like Generic City, Bigness, Junkspace, COED© e Regime ¥€$©. By articulating them, it is possible to trace characteristics of the most recent urbanization, either through the intervention or the expansion of global cities; new cities, especially in the Middle East and Asia, in addition to the
formation of a spatial continuum that leverages and guides much of today's architectural practice. For research development purposes, reflections on the contemporary city and its consequences are presented in the voice of Rem Koolhaas (1995; 2001a; 2001b; 2004), aiming to bring their perceptions closer to that of other authors such as Soja (2000; 2011) and Vàzquez (2004; 2016), followed by reflections on the recent urbanization process in China, with emphasis on the Pearl River Delta (PRD).