ABSTRACT
I dedicate this last chapter to brief descriptions and commentaries on selected case studies of inclusive urbanism from my own professional practice and from published sources. The idea is not to present these projects as “exemplary” or more worthy of comment among a potential list of candidates, but rather to explore the possibilities and limits of different types of approaches and situations within the spectrum of social mix. The first case is an example of contiguous and seamlessly connected neighborhoods of different incomes without visual distinctions between the buildings or urban typologies of the two areas. In the second case, in contrast, the two income groups occupy the same buildings – that is, presenting the finest possible “grain” of social mix. In the third case, we juxtapose income groups again in adjacent neighborhoods, but with weak physical connections between them, and stark differences in architecture and urban typology. Finally, the fourth case is an example of commercial inclusion, in which “informal” businesses are incorporated into a redevelopment scheme that is, in all other aspects, envisioned as a standard, “middle-class” urban environment. All together, the examples will hopefully help the reader to grasp better the challenges facing inclusionary urban development in the residential and commercial realms.
