Podcasts, interviews, blogs
Podcasts
Urban Political: Blaming Density (AfterCorona #4)
Is density really the key variable to explain the dynamics of the pandemic? Colin McFarlane takes a critical look at accounts that blame urban density for the drama that is unfolding in many cities.
McFarlane discusses how racalized divisions are exacerbated in this situation and how new inequalities are produced. Considering Arundhati Roy’s metaphor of the crisis as a portal into a new world, he points to political opportunities, the changing role of the state, and a new urban outlook for leftist politics. As urban research plays a critical role in understanding and revealing the political dynamics and social consequences of the crisis, McFarlane concludes this episode by reflecting on the ethical dimensions of these inquiries.
The urban politics of density in and beyond the pandemic
This podcast explores how the pandemic is changing density around the world and generating forms of politics. With a diverse group of scholars and practitioners from around the world, the podcast addresses the following specific questions/ themes:
How should density be conceived and why is it important to understanding cities (and the pandemic)?
What is the pandemic doing to different forms of density?
Is the pandemic changing the ‘where’ of density?
Is the pandemic changing how we understand density? Do we now need to think about density in a different light or can we use the debates and concepts we’ve used in the past?
The podcast is moderated by:
Colin McFarlane is Professor of Urban Geography at Durham University, UK. His work focusses on the politics of urban life, particularly in relation to density, infrastructure, and equality.
Guests include:
Hung-Ying Chen is a Post Doctoral Research Associate at Durham University (UK). Trained as an urban planner and urban economic geographer, she is researching the political and cultural economy of land value capture and the sensorial geographies of urban density and precarious politics
Roger Keil is a Professor at the Faculty of Environmental Studies and Urban Change, York University in Toronto. He researches global suburbanization, urban political ecology, cities and infectious disease, and regional governance.
Lucía Cerrada Morato is the High Density Development Project Manager at Tower Hamlets Council, London. Trained as an architect and urban designer, she is currently completing a PhD at the Bartlett School of Planning.
Margot Rubin is a senior researcher and faculty member in the University of the Witwatersrand (South African Research Chair in Spatial Analysis and City Planning) in Johannesburg.
See here.
Interviews
Interviews with Colin McFarlane on Fragments of the City: Making and Remaking Urban Worlds here and here, and on Waste and the City: The Crisis of Sanitation and the Right to Citylife here.
Interview on Waste and the City with Sunday Civics radio.
The following interviews were recorded on 3rd – 4th October, 2019 during the Rethinking Urban Density conference.
The conference was held at Durham University’s Department of Geography, and funded by the European Research Council. The event was organised by Colin McFarlane, Hung-Ying Chen, Priyam Tripathy, and Romit Chowdhury.
- Discussing Urban Density – Stephen Graham and Jane Jacobs
- Discussing Urban Density – Roger Keil and Jennifer Robinson
Podcast on Waste and the City book for the New Books Network here
Blogs
DenCity comic book: Stories of Cities and Crowds
The Conversation: The urban poor have been hit hard by coronavirus. We must ask who cities are designed to serve
The enormous death toll in New York City, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak in the US, led New York’s governor, Andrew Cuomo, to write that “there is a density level in NYC that is destructive“. New York is presented as a victim of its own population density, its inhabitants facing increased risks from compact housing and crowded public transport.
