Proponents of urbanization descend upon revitalized Katowice
Atop a disused coal mine in the Upper Silesian city of Katowice in Poland, a city within a city was constructed. This city, centered around the Spodek Stadium, was the home to thousands of delegates who descended upon this turn-of-the-century city for UN Habitat’s 11th World Urban Forum.
A mixture of governmental, civil, public, and private entities rubbed shoulders over the space of a week as they explored how we, as a society, continue to expand and evolve in the realm of land and housing. I found myself as a participant through covering the media for 11 civil society organisations who were stationed at a stand in the UrbanExpo known as “Habitat Village”. Stand #42 became my base camp for a week as I would daily venture out into the world of WUF to document the various narratives.
With a volley of shutter-actuations and a flurry of Tweets, my presence was established in this global conference. Not having partaken as a media representative in a conference of this magnitude since my days as an official photographer for World Economic Forum, the butterflies in my stomach soon escaped and I found myself taking to the environment like the proverbial duck.
Hurrying and scurrying from one venue to another, familiarality with delegates and staff alike began to become established. With many of whom I would exchange a nod, a smile, or a greeting as our bonds grew over the days.
Long after the conference has ended and the agenda has been fully exhausted, it is the interactions and relationships which leave a lasting impression. Even with the last scan of my security pass, or the jovial welcome of “Same shit, different day – pick your favourite lane,” from the enormous Carribean security official task with herding the delegates to the appropriate metal detector at the security check point, a tinge of sadness is noted within me as I said goodbye to the city-within-a-city that became my refuge for the week.
