This conference deals with the close intertwining of ecology and sensitivity. It questions the way sensitivity is at the heart of current socio-ecological issues. A basic hypothesis will be developed, that of the emergence of a new form of sensitivity that could be called «ambient sensitivity». It is a sensitivity that could be qualified as ecological and which is irreducible to an artistic, environmental or landscape sensitivity. One could perhaps rather speak about eco-sensitivity in this respect. We will see that this form of sensitivity relies on the notion of ambiance, that it operates a new distribution of the sensible and summons an original structure of feeling.

According to the United Nations, it is estimated that more than one billion people currently live in slums or informal settlements worldwide. Informal settlements are the only path for the urban poor to have a roof over their head and are a solution rather than a problem. While some informal settlements are prone to poor sanitation, pandemics, and natural disasters, many of them are improved after some time, becoming an example of adequate design and appropriate human scale. This result in some cases in an alignment with sustainability principles by saving resources and energy, using recycling materials, and using vernacular techniques. The case studies here presented show how many informal settlements have very remarkable and interesting public and semi-public areas with a more human scale than neighborhoods designed by professionals. When informal settlements are self-build they can be sustainable and they have design qualities that allow a high residential satis- faction among their inhabitants.

In this lecture, the body as a receptacle for promoting systemic interactions provided by the environment, will be brought to the forefront in the sensitive practice of the urban experience. Such an experience converges to the spaces of daily use, concrete spaces in which only human interactions can give new meaning, taking into consideration that spaces are only understood by their emerging value, that is, by the collective and dyna- mic character that ambiances promote. If the instance of private life today plagues large cities, and further evidences the construction of fear and segregation, in part promoted by the results of the new Pandemic, on the other hand, the need for public and collec- tive life can be placed as a possibility for rescuing the human dimension, envisioned by projects and ideas from Situationist theories (reverberated in the 1960s) and former studies on Phenomenology and the realm of Atmospheres. These topics have been issued by architecture and urbanism transversally to human geography, anthropology and urban sociology. Urban fictions are presented, therefore, as bodily narrative creations that make it possible to re-create spaces, reiterating the need to act in the city as daily builders.

The character of a city reflects the way in which citizens, from all generations and social classes, use their public space. Culture, traditions, uses and customs, but also the way in which its streets, squares and gardens are used, reveal the city.
The human dimension of the city, the importance of the public as a structuring and aggre- gating element, respect for people, its main users, and the recognition of its urban func- tions, as a meeting point, place of commerce and connection space, are decisive to build a city for all, ensuring the right to civic action and social dignity.

Today, there is a growing understanding that the public space supports urban life, as the matrix of city construction and citizenship.
Investing in the quality of public space – by ensuring that it is well designed and well built – reinforces social cohesion and quality of life, attracts investment, and generates economic returns for the city.

Today the challenge is to rethink the city for it to become more sustainable, cohesive, and inclusive.
* after the movie by Robert Zemeckis (1985)