#transmodernism

[wwworlding]

[C]ontemporary mathematics produces new understandings of universals without an Absolute, with extremely interesting 'relative universals', in category theory and model theory, rising renewed from the ashes. Following Rosa Maria Rodriguez Magda, we may understand Transmodernism as a Modernism which never died; which, like the Phoenix, continues to rise again. Transmodernism maintains Postmodernism's open spirit of dissemina tion, as well as some of its main emphases (not new conquests, since we find them already in Novalis, Valery, Florenskij, etc.) on the fragmentation of truth and the conjunctions of antinomies, but goes well beyond the mere register of singular breakdowns and tries to propose new relative nets to encompass residuation. A rich counterpoint emerges between Postmodernism and Transmodemism: break, locality, differentiation, contradiction, ambiguity, the impossibility of universals, 'all is equally worthwhile', death -what might be called postmodern dissonance -contrasted with revision, local/global dialectics, oscillation, differentiation/integration, partial gluing of relative coherences, fabrics of vagueness/exactness, relative universals, 'some are more worthwhile than others', renaissances -a sort of transmodern harmonics.

[chroniclesofamber]

The City is Our Future

Situation

Urbanization, the demographic transition from rural to urban, is associated with shifts from an agriculture-based economy to mass industry, technology, and service.  For the first time ever, the majority of the world's population lives in a city, and this proportion continues to grow.  One hundred years ago, 2 out of every 10 people lived in an urban area.  By 1990, less than 40% of the global population lived in a city, but as of 2010, more than half of all people live in an urban area.  By 2030, 6 out of every 10 people will live in a city, and by 2050, this proportion will increase to 7 out of 10 people.  Currently, around half of all urban dwellers live in cities with between 100 000 - 500 000 people, and fewer than 10% of urban dwellers live in megacities (defined by UN HABITAT as a city with a population of more than 10 million).

Trends

Globally, urban growth peaked in the 1950s, with a population expansion of more than 3% per year.  Today, the number of urban residents is growing by nearly 60 million every year.  The global urban population is expected to grow roughly 1.5% per year, between 2025-2030.  By the middle of the 21st century, the urban population will almost double, increasing from approximately 3.4 billion in 2009 to 6.4 billion in 2050.  Almost all urban population growth in the next 30 years will occur in cities of developing countries.

Between 1995 and 2005, the urban population of developing countries grew by an average of 1.2 million people per week, or around 165 000 people every day.  By the middle of the 21st century, it is estimated that the urban population of these counties will more than double, increasing from 2.5 billion in 2009 to almost 5.2 billion in 2050.  Nonetheless, on average, the rate of urban population growth is slowing in developing countries, from an annual rate of roughly 4% from 1950-1975 to a projected 1.55% per year from 2025-2050.  In high-income countries, on the other hand, the urban population is expected to remain largely unchanged over the next two decades, increasing from 920 million people to just over 1 billion by 2025.  In these countries, immigration (legal and illegal) will account for more than two-thirds of urban growth.  Without immigration, the urban population in these countries would most likely decline or remain static.

— WHO | Urban Population Growth

[xabji]

"If ultimately behind Reason we encountered little more than a thirst for power, ideological manipulation or obscure unconscious drives, the only thing left to do was to openly exercise its destruction, to tear down this domineering logocentrism than had planned a major conspiracy hidden behind the paraphernalia of grandiose concepts such as Truth, Justice and Morals, to uncover this mendacious nominalism and be left with the signs in a postmetaphysical type of thinking, half way between nostalgia and the euphoria of dissemination."