Kabul, Afghanistan, is an emergent metropolis where glimpses of hope and progress are immanent at every corner.

Kabul is a metropolis where construction in the private sector is booming, where people are determined to restore their city, where they can finally exploit a comparatively peaceful phase in their history to start recovering, marrying, organising their lives, embellishing their surroundings, and catching up with the rest of the world in terms of education, culture and technology. But there are many obstacles. Kabul is also a place where there is still no progress in solving civic urgencies, where international organisations’ inclination to self-protection disrupts residents’ everyday lives, where an emerging security- industrial complex is driving an urban civil war, where public spaces are economically and politically contested, where urban-planning ideologies collide, and where authorities face the challenge of land titling as a venture that will ultimately reveal the very nature of nation-building and human rights in Afghanistan. Security and public space was the focus of the Archis RSVP event in October 2007. The goal was to examine the situation beyond the western media, power and security bubble. The RSVP team explored public spaces in Kabul with a variety of Afghan stakeholders (architects, designers, artists, students, residents, academics, NGOs, municipal officials, construction companies, developers, etc.) to compile an inventory of needs and possible actions/ projects to improve the city’s public spheres. Local experts and residents guided visitors to public gardens and parks, prominent mountainsides, the ruins of a Soviet cultural centre, settlements on grabbed land, gated areas, shopping malls, and the new and historic city centre. It became clear that it was not only the probability of random suicide attacks that threatened security in public spaces. We also witnessed obscene space consumption by international agencies for security reasons that ultimately violate residents’ freedom of movement. Moreover, their social privileges justify the creation of constricted public spaces to which Afghans are not permitted entry. On the other hand, public spaces and public services are contested by powerful Afghans who continue their civil war on parliamentary and municipal seats. In the western media it is the Taliban who receive most of the attention and are portrayed as the enemy. In reality various forces are the enemies of common welfare and guard the interests of their own group and their affiliates. Our conversation about security and public space is ongoing. A follow up meeting had already been organised in Kabul after we left. The supplement comprises contributions from the professionals we met in Kabul as well as the RSVP visitors and it aims to continue the discussion and collaboration and invite you to join in. Archis RSVP Team

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