Robert Farnan
(Stockholm Environment Institute, University of York)
Richard Friend
(University of York)
Jonathan Ensor
(University of York Stockholm Environment Institute)
Format:
Panel
Streams:
Infrastructure
Sessions:
Wednesday 6 July, -
Time zone: Europe/London
Cities, Urbanisation, and the Politics of Urban Infrastructure Systems.
Panel P24b at conference DSA2022: Just sustainable futures in an urbanising and mobile world.
Advancing scholarship on urban infrastructure systems, we invite papers that critically link theory & practice in order to reimagine the relationship between cities & marginalisation, with an applied & participatory emphasis on political capabilities, sustainable futures, & infrastructure politics.
Long Abstract:
Amidst the persistent marginalisation of urbanisation in the Global South, the issue of sustainable cities has increasingly been conceived in terms of urban infrastructure systems. Resonating across the disciplines of human geography and developmental studies, the issues of access, poverty, vulnerability and violence associated with the politics of urban infrastructure systems raise key questions. These pertain to the relationship between theory, practice, and the role of knowledge in addressing social marginalisation and fostering sustainable futures. The deep connection between theory and practice is often foregrounded by activists and engaged researchers, as well as grassroots practitioners, as a means by which to challenge positivist research frameworks and build equitable collaboration. Aimed at transforming societal injustices, participatory, action-oriented research provides a useful entry point for rethinking how critical urban theorising can be put to work for and by marginalised groups and their representative organisations. An explicitly political understanding of knowledge is central to how we understand both the persistence of marginalisation in relation to urban infrastructure systems, and the possibilities for urban transformation. For many the city remains a democratic space filled with hope, where rights may be claimed, justice recognised, and futures realised. Yet as others point out, urban systems and infrastructure are not only spaces of transformation but also vehicles for social marginalisation. These critical voices – drawing attention to the inequitable access, disruption and failure of urban infrastructure systems – urge us to revisit the political efficacy of our concepts, pointing to the political capabilities our theories may or may not engender in practice. Speaking to grassroots scholarship concerning marginalisation and urban infrastructure systems, we invite papers that critically link theory and practice in order to reimagine the relationship between cities, justice and urbanisation, with an applied and participatory emphasis on political capabilities, sustainable futures, and the politics of infrastructure systems.
We plan to run two or three synchronous paper-based panel sessions, comprising approximately six to nine papers. For each 40-minute session we plan to include three papers, inviting presenters to speak for no more than 8 minutes. This will enable plenty of time for Q&A at the end of each session. We will also ask contributors to circulate their interventions three weeks ahead of time, and encourage panellists to use non text-based mediums as part of their presentations, such as audio-visual and/or web-based materials. In addition to providing these papers and/or materials in advance of the sessions, the chair, on the basis of what has been shared ahead of each panel, will circulate a discussion question. This will be designed to provoke critical conversation amongst participants, and to draw out the three key contributions that each speaker will have been required to highlight as part of their presentation.
Using the knowledge infrastructures approach, we scrutinize the scalar discourses associated with deep-bore-fed and spring-fed water supply systems underway in Dhulikhel municipality of Nepal and assess the utility of this approach in understanding the urban marginality issue in the global South.
Paper long abstract:
Ratifying the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)-6 of ensuring universal access to water supply, the government of Nepal has set a national target of providing drinking water to 99% of households by 2030. Subsequently, the municipal governments have heavily invested in water infrastructures under the "one-house-one-tap" initiative. Dhulikhel Municipality (DM), an emerging urban center near the capital city Kathmandu, has drilled deep borewells to distribute water for all and portrayed it as a "reliable" water system to meet growing water demands in "water-scarce" peri-urban villages. Local communities are however skeptical of the sufficiency and sustainability of the deep borewells and claim that locally managed spring-fed water supply would rather be a "sustainable" and "equitable" solution in their hilly terrain. Our study focused on the knowledge infrastructures - an alliance of actors, networks, and expertise - underpinning the development of these water systems shows the municipality relied on technocratic knowledge to legitimize deep borewell-fed system while the communal resorted to their traditionally-managed spring-fed system. Socio-economically weaker communities however remain marginalized in access to water and water-related decisions in both of these infrastructure systems. In these contexts, scrutinizing discursive framings at scales, we examine the usefulness of the knowledge infrastructures approach as an analytical framework for understanding urban marginality and in identifying strategic alternatives for a more inclusive and equitable urban water system and urban society.
The change in knowledge infrastructure in an urban setting can increase the political capability of civil society groups to negotiate with the government. The paper analysed the case of Chiang Mai's air pollution and how its political capability was mobilised.
Paper long abstract:
Transformation of knowledge infrastructures in the right place can increase the political capabilities of civil society to reduce conflict, increase cooperation and open space for political negotiation.
The case of conflict over air pollution in Chiang Mai provides useful insight into how civil society can mobilise, ultimately lobbying effectively for the state to implement effective air quality monitoring. Air pollution has been a long-standing source of conflict in the north of Thailand, but the state had failed to monitor PM2.5 levels in Chiang Mai, while drawing on narratives of blame that focused on upland agriculture. Local actors organised themselves as a Breath Council to lobby for clean air in the city to address this governance failure. The paper draws on concepts of knowledge infrastructures and political capabilities to explore how these civil society actors - academics and activists -operated to generate credible monitoring evidence applying disruptive technologies, developing arguments and building broad coalitions of lay and expert knowledge. However, despite early successes, there are concerns that changes in the leadership of local government present additional threats. The paper concludes by considering the extent to which past experience in mobilising around air pollution can be sustained.
I explore the political economy of the implementation of the largest aerial gondola system in La Paz, Bolivia. I critically link theory and practice to discuss the trade-offs between political incentives and urban planning, analyzing their systemic effects on morphology and networked infrastructures
Paper long abstract:
Many variables harness and condition the implementation of urban infrastructure projects in cities in the Global South. Particularly, in contexts of low institutionalization and scarcity of resources, the implementation of transformative infrastructure is dependent on high-level political support. Analyzing the dynamics and incentives of political support is key to understanding which projects get prioritized and why, and why do they have particular impacts on the cities and populations they serve.
For this paper I conducted 20 interviews to key stakeholders and triangulate them with other secondary sources to explore the political economy of the implementation of Mi Teleferico, the largest aerial ropeway transit system in the world, in La Paz, Bolivia. Thirty years of unsuccessful or unimplemented transportation policies changed after the intervention of the Central Government, using its full political, financial, and bureaucratic resources to support the implementation of Mi Teleferico.
This paper explores the role of politics not only as an enabler but also as a constraint. I argue that the political support came at the expense of some of urban planning best practices. Tight electoral timelines and costly coordination resulted in a top-down, expeditive approach towards the design, bidding, and construction processes.
As a closing note, I argue that practitioners should work on a dual-level approach. Firstly, on a strategic level, push for greater institutionalization of urban infrastructure as a way to achieve greater and more efficient impact. Secondly, urban practitioners should anticipate and incorporate politics into the planning process, by using specific political economy tools.
Drawing on a recent strand in the literature on the informal economy and on ethnographic data from Kinshasa, this paper contends that looking at both the visible and invisible structures of the urban informal economy is fundamental in understanding the processes and inequalities that structure it.
Paper long abstract:
Access to the urban space remains central to the development of economic activities and the success of most economic actors. For most urban traders, occupying an appropriate urban space is an economic decision that requires strategic planning and can have a significant impact on business outcomes. The development of small businesses in many cities in developing countries shows urban traders do not have the same access to the city space. In Kinshasa, the occupation of the urban space for economic reasons is both a contested and negotiated process. Indeed, the occupation of a strategic economic space in Kinshasa requires more than mere access to economic resources or compliance to any rule of law, as it often involves continuous negotiation with various state and non-state actors. Even the relative success of street vending depends on the traders' ability to engage with state actors. This paper draws on a recent strand in the literature on the informal economy, questioning both the dualist approach to economic activities in developing countries and a monolithic view of state participation in urban governance. Drawing from ethnographic data collected on Kinshasa traders in several months between 2019 and 2021, this research contends that to move beyond the dualistic conceptualization of developing countries' economies, it is imperative to bring front and center the different processes of contestation and negotiation involved in urban governance.
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Richard Friend (University of York)
Jonathan Ensor (University of York Stockholm Environment Institute)
Short Abstract:
Advancing scholarship on urban infrastructure systems, we invite papers that critically link theory & practice in order to reimagine the relationship between cities & marginalisation, with an applied & participatory emphasis on political capabilities, sustainable futures, & infrastructure politics.
Long Abstract:
Amidst the persistent marginalisation of urbanisation in the Global South, the issue of sustainable cities has increasingly been conceived in terms of urban infrastructure systems. Resonating across the disciplines of human geography and developmental studies, the issues of access, poverty, vulnerability and violence associated with the politics of urban infrastructure systems raise key questions. These pertain to the relationship between theory, practice, and the role of knowledge in addressing social marginalisation and fostering sustainable futures. The deep connection between theory and practice is often foregrounded by activists and engaged researchers, as well as grassroots practitioners, as a means by which to challenge positivist research frameworks and build equitable collaboration. Aimed at transforming societal injustices, participatory, action-oriented research provides a useful entry point for rethinking how critical urban theorising can be put to work for and by marginalised groups and their representative organisations. An explicitly political understanding of knowledge is central to how we understand both the persistence of marginalisation in relation to urban infrastructure systems, and the possibilities for urban transformation. For many the city remains a democratic space filled with hope, where rights may be claimed, justice recognised, and futures realised. Yet as others point out, urban systems and infrastructure are not only spaces of transformation but also vehicles for social marginalisation. These critical voices – drawing attention to the inequitable access, disruption and failure of urban infrastructure systems – urge us to revisit the political efficacy of our concepts, pointing to the political capabilities our theories may or may not engender in practice. Speaking to grassroots scholarship concerning marginalisation and urban infrastructure systems, we invite papers that critically link theory and practice in order to reimagine the relationship between cities, justice and urbanisation, with an applied and participatory emphasis on political capabilities, sustainable futures, and the politics of infrastructure systems.
We plan to run two or three synchronous paper-based panel sessions, comprising approximately six to nine papers. For each 40-minute session we plan to include three papers, inviting presenters to speak for no more than 8 minutes. This will enable plenty of time for Q&A at the end of each session. We will also ask contributors to circulate their interventions three weeks ahead of time, and encourage panellists to use non text-based mediums as part of their presentations, such as audio-visual and/or web-based materials. In addition to providing these papers and/or materials in advance of the sessions, the chair, on the basis of what has been shared ahead of each panel, will circulate a discussion question. This will be designed to provoke critical conversation amongst participants, and to draw out the three key contributions that each speaker will have been required to highlight as part of their presentation.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Wednesday 6 July, 2022, -