geo 222 FINAL
Dubai City of despair: Response to strikes by the UAE gov't/policies
'-Mid-day breaks', setting up dispute offices,and the Wage Protection system to guarantee the payment of wages. More than 600 employers were fined for non-payment (2009-2013) -In 2017, the UAE passed laws to provide for 30-day vacations and non-confiscation of passports, but difficult to know
Question of the 'commons' and 'commoning' (what do they mean?)
-(or the creation and maintenance of common spaces) -Dense networks of people in the lampung involved in non-bank savings groups, the sharing of food and the sharing of green spaces for food, collective money pools for medical costs, and other forms of mutual aid for the purposes of social care. However, there is also self interest, power hierarchies that result in the usual market economy and the desire to make money ('monetize') the 'commons' -For the L&S (2014), there's both commoning and self-interest/market exchange, and they oscillate over time.
A very brief (mainly economic) history of Dubai: gold trade, after British domination
-A gold trade begins in Dubai during the 1960s, but Dubai itself has no gold to mine -British leave the trucial states in 1971, which join together to form 7 emirates, and they become the united arab emirates in the same year
Los Angeles - fantasy and image production, immigrant-dominated sweat shops, inequality and east/west geographic divide, suburbanization of immigrant enclaves, etc.
-A patchwork of 'ethnoburbs' (both richer and poorer urban and suburban 'ethnic enclaves' in especially Orange County) ('Japantown', Koreatown, Little Arabia, and Little Saigon, etc.) -On one hand, a city of fantasy images and image production (Hollywood, Disney, etc) -On the other hand a military industry, immigrant-dominated sweat-shops that echo production in 'Third-World' countries, and -A sharp divide between 'movie-star' wealth in the Hollywood Hills and African-American and Latino poverty in South Central and East LA
Rio: Significance of Carnival and its characteristics
-A traditional Roman Catholic six-day event (from the 1600s)- celebrated before Easter every year (over 4 million people per year) -But heavily influenced by Afro (or African)- Brazilian cultural practices since the early 1900s. Note the use of 'practices' since culture or cultures is/are not stable. Cultures are always changing and relentlessly 'hybrid' -It is really a long dancing and singing party following a lead trio electric -It not only occurs in the center of the city, but also at the same time in different neighborhoods, and in a central (and several) sambadromes(s) with the participation of "Samba Schools"
Rio: Decline after 2008, widespread unemploym't in the city
-Adult unemployment is about 12% and youth unemployment was around 20% in 2016 in Rio and Brazil (see article on canvas). Why? -Over the last 10 years or so, there are at least three possible explanations: 1. The decline of the price of oil (or scandals associated with petrobras, which lead to the cancelling of construction projects) 2. The economic outcomes of the 2016 olympics (a massive city deficit) 3. Government austerity (government cutting back on public sector jobs) exacerbates economic weakness
Paris: Significance of the French revolution and phrase sans distinction de race
-After the French Revolution of 1789, the 'revolutionaries' try to rid France and the city of the monarchy and of rule by catholic clerics -Liberte, egalite, fraternite (liberty, equality and brotherhood) became the watchword of the new republic, but so did the separation of church and state, and later the idea of san distinction de race (without reference to 'race')
dubai: A few notes about living in an Islamic city
-Alcohol is prohibited for Muslims, but non-muslims can drink in hotels, hotel bars and restaurants. To purchase alcohol in stores, you would need a special license -People dress in all sorts of muslim and non-muslim dress, but depends on with part of the city and the time of day -Consumption in malls is mixed between halal-type goods, local brands, and western, 'less halal' (that is less modest) brands -Gambling is haram and prohibited everywhere in Dubai even at horse races (Dubai is not las vegas)
Conclusions to long lecture on 'Cities of Spectacle and Despair'
-All three cities (Dubai, Los Angeles, and Rio) are cities of tourism and entertainment, but in different islamic and non-islamic ways -Dubia and Los Angeles are seen as especially 'postmodern' (polycentric, entertainment and image-rich and with extreme racialized or nationality-based income disparities) -Their poly-centricity (and the importance of images) sets them apart from chicago as a 'model' of the 'modern', 20th century city -All three show significant signs of racialized or ethnicized spatial segregation -All three have significant environmental issues (certainly Dubia and LA are chronically water-stressed) -Rio is especially marked by violence (both from citizens and the state) but perhaps less so Dubia and Los Angeles -'Race' is a social construct, not a biological one (for many social scientists) and 'culture' is never fixed, so it might be better to use the term 'cultural practices' -All three are marked by protest in various ways
A very brief (mainly economic) history of Dubai: Role Oil
-At around the same time, oil exploration began, but it took roughly 30 years to discover oil (in 1960), and the first oil was exported in 1962, but it really ramped up by the late 1960s. Notably, Abu Dhabi had a lot more oil than Dubai. -With oil revenue, Sheikh Makhtoum launches a massive building program (electricity and water infrastructure, housing, hospitals, roads, and schools), although an airport came earlier in 1960
Cities always change, but they are also layered
-Bassin de la Villette (canal); changed through gentrification -And then they seem to not change in some ways: Paris as the persistent city of revolution? Demonstration by Gilets Jaunes December, 2018-April, 2019
Paris: Demographic change in the banlieues
-By the 1980s, with industrial decline in France, the loss of manufacturing jobs, and widespread poverty amongst immigration workers and their largely french children, the banlieues began to erupt into violence, and would do so periodically until 2005 -The banlieues become reputed for violence, criminality, and poverty
Paris: Periodic revolutions in France
-City of revolution: the 'july column', memorial to the july 1830 revolutions -France witnesses revolutions 1830, 1848, and almost in 1968; then there's the student uprisings of 1986, the middle class uprisings of 1995, the banlieue uprising of 2005, and the gilets jaunes (yellow vests) in 2019
Dakar, Senegal: Significance of French colonialism for spatial structure of the city
-Dakar became the capital of the federation of the french west africa- Afrique Occidentale Francaise, helped by the construction of a major railroad -Slavery, oppression/discrimination and segregation became part of the urban fabric, with indigenous africans relegated to outlying areas (Medina, Oikine, etc) Creation of 'slums'/shantytowns
A very brief (mainly economic) history of Dubai: Sheikdom
-Dubia was a part of a series of Islamic sheikdoms before the 1800s -The city (or rather small town- population about 1200)- was an entrepot in the late 1700s and 1800s and was colonised by British traders, during this period, with frequent raids by portuguese colonists
A very brief (mainly economic) history of Dubai: Pearling industry
-During the 1800s, a thriving trade in pearls developed and the city grew with the trade -By the 1930s however, Japanese 'cultured pearls' and the 'Great Depression' devastated the industry, and enormous numbers of people left dubai and the region for elsewhere in the gulf
Characteristics of Haussmanization
-Improve circulation of the city, especially so the army could mobilize against working class uprisings -Improve sanitation (especially the construction of sewers) -Improve water provision -"Haussmannization' lays the historical precedent and groundwork for state driven (dirigiste) large-scale urban planning, including the planning of new towns
1850s and 1860s - Hausmann and Haussmanization
-In the 1850s, Louis lll appointed Baron Von Haussmann (the then prefet de la seine) to reconstruct the central part of Paris -What he did was to create one of the largest urban renovation projects in the history of the world during the 1850s and 1860s
Mumbai Inequality III: a short economic and social history of Mumbai(Rise of finance, Bollywood, etc.)
-In the 1990s, the center of mumbai becomes the location for entertainment, finance, and tourism. By the mid 1990s, mumbai was handing almost half of domestic air traffic -The whole financial industry increases its employment, including in IT, insurance, and telecommunicators. Luxury real estate investments also grow rapidly. -But so does 'Bollywood' after the export success of the film Hum Aapke Hain Kaun in 1994, much helped by the number of indians living abroad.
Dubai City of despair: Environmental challenges: water scarcity
-In the 19th and early 29th centuries, water could be pumped from the aquifer (underground water) in the surrounding mountains, but thus eventually dwindled -Dubai's groundwater supplies only 0.5% of the city's potable water. The other 99.5% comes from the jebel Ali desalination plant -Heated saline sludge is discharged back into the sea which raises ocean salinity, with possible negative effects on marine flora and fauna
What are the arguments of the Los Angeles School?
-LA on the eve of the 21st was the typical 'postmodern city': 'it all comes together in LA' (soja,1989) -Los Angeles has all the contradictions of late 20th century cities: a downtown core (or CBD), but with also a poly-centric/decentralized car-dominated set of the 'outer' or 'edge' cities'
Kampungs to Condos?
-Leitner and Shepard's main argument: since 1998, there have been forced evictions by the government in 'illegal' kampungs, and even the razing of whole kampungs under the guise of flood mitigation -However, there are various opportunities for villagers to make money off this and to resist the destruction of kampungs and their conversion into condos
paris is conclusions 4
-Meanwhile, President Francois Mitterrand (socialist party) was elected in 1981, and embarked on a building campaign for the French bicentennial -The 'grand projets' were designed to represent paris and france in art, politics and economics at the end of the 20th century, but they also were a legacy to Mitterrand and as a tool for economic development
Dakar's Government's Response to problems: 3. Flooding affects both richer and poorer neighborhoods however. Exacerbated by the informal in-filling of wetlands
-Mgm't can consist of household and community adaptation (e.g. afforestation, reforestation, flood plain zoning, etc) -Unlike the digital 'smartness' of richer cities, residents often adapt through 'immediate'/'appropriate' technologies (e.g. the use of buckets, gravel or PVC piping; re-pitching the roof, etc)
paris is conclusions 2
-Paris grew industrially and demographically during the post-WWII period (1945-1973), including from French citizens and immigrants (largely but not exclusively from the maghreb: Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia) -While the French-born initially settled in the public housing that was being built in the banlieue, over time, they left such housing for single-family housing, and immigrants moved in
The case of Menteng Atas (a legal kampong): why would residents sell?
-Pressure from the brokers -The destruction or isolation of neighboring homes limited what was once frequent 'commoning' -The less 'sociability' and 'communing' meant a less desirable and more dangerous community -The huge amount of money to be made from the sale of their property (in some cases 100,000-or a 40 years of salary) although on average probably 50% less than the actual market value
Rio: Not just oil that matters though: other economic activities, stock exchange, and cultural activities (music such as Bossa Nova, etc.)
-Services (such as telecoms) dominate economic activity in Rio (about 65% of GDP), trade (23%) and manufacturing (11%) -In terms of manufacturing, the city specializes in food, furniture, metal-working, petrochemicals, pharma, shipbuilding, steel and textiles. But also tourism! -At the same time, has become a center for administration , education, and finance (Rio has a stock exchange, but it actually rather Brazilian and government focused), sports, universities and for all sorts of cultural activities, including AXe (from Yoruba culture); Bossa Nova, Samba, and Carnival
Jakarta is not unique (in terms of the extent of informal housing/shantytowns/squatter settlements, etc.)
-The UN estimates that the number of people in the world living in informal settlements is about a ⅓ -Jakarta is no different (and the % may even be much higher) and most land sales or exchanges are completed informally, and most economic activity is informal -What drives the destruction of kampungs and the construction of condos? 1. Policies designed to quickly privatize urban land 2. The emergence of an urban middle class who desire 'contemporary' condominiums and the lifestyle that goes with it (shopping malls, etc.) 3. The sizable profits to be made by developers with these sorts of developments 4. City officials who want to make the city more attractive for int'l or domestic capital investment, and wealthier residents.
Accumulation by dispossession (David Harvey) (what is it?)
-The basic idea is: someone/some entity (government, corporation, or real estate company, an individual or group) evicts people or businesses or takes away land, in order to make money -L&S (2014) essential point is that it is not so straightforward as that (it involves co-optation and coercion)
Rio: Back to the economic discussion: the city as entrepot for gold and sugar, the city as capital of Portugal
-The city grew as an entrepot exporting especially gold and sugar -Brazil achieves independence from Portugal in 1822, and rio remained the capital of Brazil, even the capital of Portugal (from 1808-1821)! It would remain the capital of Brazil until 1960
Rio: Portuguese colonization, use of enslaved Africans
-The city of Rio (like the rest of Brazil) was a Portuguese colony, founded in the 1500s. Thousands of indigenous people were displaced by colonization -Econ. development in the city relied initially on enslaved Africans from the 1600s until the 1800s. By the early 1800s, Rio had the most slaves of any city in the Western hemisphere (more than 200,000)
Paris: The HLM and banlieues (e.g. Sarcelles); but lack of social services
-The french government helped to finance the massive construction of tower blocks (mainly HLM) in the banlieues (suburbs) Sacelles, about 20Km north of city -Like the HLM constructed in the banlieues, it lacked social services and fell out of favor with French citizens
paris is conclusions 1
-The history of paris is marked by revolutions, up-risings, and other collective forms of violence -The french revolution of 1789 led to the idea of 'sans distinction de race' (the idea that everyone is equal). Today, however, because of distrimination, low skills, low pay, and unemployment among immigrants and subsequent generations, everyone is clearly not equal
Scott's (2000) Cultural Economy of Paris
-The production of 'symbolic goods' (rather than 'utilitarian goods'): goods of status, and of distinction -Might include books and magazines, cosmetics (including perfume), fashion, film production, fine leather goods, furniture, jewelry, music recording, theater, multi-social media and tourist services -They symbolize the place from where they are produced: Paris! -Le Sentier or the "backstage": wholesale garment sale for high end (artisanal garment design for the catwalks) but also Aubervilliers -The front and back 'regions' of 'everyday life' (Irving Goffman, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life) Irving Goffman, 1922-2982, Sociologist
paris is conclusions 5
-This building campaign involved 8 controversial and less controversial projets: La bibliothequ Francois Mitterrand, the Grande Arche, L'Institut du Monde Arabe (Arab World institute), the Ministry of Finance, Opera Bastille, Pyramid ...one more? -Alongside the grand projets were persistent 'cultural industries' (such as fashion or perfume), but always have a 'backstage' hidden from wealthy consumers and tourists
Rio: Racialization of the work force and urban segregation (e.g. corticos, favelas, etc.)
-This would lead to a racialized class of workers relegated to low-paid formal or informal work and living in corticos (central city slums comprised of older dilapidated buildings and usually rented) or shanty-towns ('favelas'- built independently and owned by the poor) -Brazil and rio became heavily stratified by 'phenotypical variation' (skin color); arguably, the lighter one's skin, the less one is subject to discriminations by European origin 'white' settlers -But many african-origin Brazilians married with European origins 'white' settlers, creating enormous ethnic/'racialized' hybridity
Dakar's Government's Response to problems: 1. focusing on securing land tenure (54% have proof of legal ownership)
-When land is secure, this encourages owners to invest and to save -Permits them to use land as collateral in a loan -The government can also collect taxes to build water, sewage, and electric infrastructure, these ideas follow the studies if hernando de soto (an economist) in Peru
paris is conclusions 3
-With all the economic difficulties that immigrants faced (including physical and social isolation) in relatively poorly serviced housing, social issues began to emerge (high youth unemployment, social unrest, criminality, and violence) -The feeling of social exclusion and lack of economic opportunities has led to collective forms of violence ('riots', etc.)
Forward to the 21st century: city of despair (migrant workers)
-almost exclusively men- from especially south asia (bangladesh, india, nepal, pakistan, and Sri Lanka)but also Egypt began to appear in the gulf states in 1970s -Recruited through the Kafala system (a system of sponsorship in which an employer must guarantee the job of a migrant) -The construction 'boom' from the 1900s onwards involved a 'second wave' of migrant workers - again men from south asia and women from the philippines mainly as 'domestic workers'/maids So the UAE's oil industry, Dubai's Skyline, and Emirati and expatriate homes have been built and serviced by low-paid migrant workers (perhaps 25-50% of the workforce), mainly form in the mid 2000s e.g., some 700,000 entered the UAE for work
Paris: grand projets
-back in central Paris in the late 1980s, the socialist president Francois Mitterrand pushes the construction of what he called the Grands Projects to celebrate the French bicentennial (1789-1989) -An international architectural competition was held for each project
Mumbai Inequality III: a short economic and social history of Mumbai (Portuguese/British history)
-the city was colonized by the Portuguese in the 15th century and then the British overthrow the portuguese in the 17th century (1600s) -The imprint of the British colonialism: Victorian architecture in Mumbai (Elphinstone college, built in the 1880s) -It thrives as a colonial port city and later, a trans-shipping point for Indian-grown cotton during the 19th century, and migrants flocked in, especially from the north -However, this involved the oppression of many indian by british colonists, depending on their caste. Profits (both british and indian) were ploughed into the arts and finance, especially the creation of a stock market. -Like so many other british colonies suring the 20th century, india gained its independence in 1947
Two forms of displacement
1. By being evicted because the kampung is illegal (has accelerated over the last decade) 2. Or being bought out by developers (in Menteng Atas)
What do we learn from Dakar? flooding
1. Even if cities have much in common with each other (e.g. the colonial residential pattern of African cities), all cities are unique (the extent of flooding in Dakar makes it stand out)
Religious tensions and violence in mumbai: 2 crucial events
1. In 1922, in the city of Ayodhya hundreds of Muslims were killed and a Mosque destroyed by Hindu mobs associated with the Hindu nationalist party (shiv shena) and then a year later by a retaliatory bombing in Bombay in 1993 2. In 2008, when a pakistani islamic fundamentalist group killed about 200 people across 4 day in November
What's not so smart about smart cities?
1. The problem of affordable housing from humanitarian/justice perspective 2. The problem of affordable housing as a threat to the economy, political and social sustainability of cities (the importance of low paid workers and 'key' public sector workers- clerks, firemen, nurses, police officers, teachers, etc.)
Paris: Urban policy to address these issues
1. ZACs: participatory planning zones to encourage economic development 2. ZUPs: uran priority zones directed at tackling social problems 3. ZEPs: education priority zones *They seem to have accomplished relatively little in terms of at least perceived exclusion and opportunities. Again- violence erupts in 2005 by young people of immigrant origin, not only in the banlieues, but in the city of Paris itself*
What do we learn from Dakar? Natural disasters
2. Hazards such as flooding are not natural disasters (e.g. Houston, New Orleans), and are shaped by the built environment and economic/social inequalities
What do we learn from Dakar? Different understandings of smart cities
3. Smart cities mean different things to different municipal governments and citizens (the benefits of creating mass, legal land ownership)
What do we learn from Dakar? 'smart' adaptation does not necessarily mean more IT
4. Often 'smart' 'adaptive' approaches can be designed at the household or community level and employ 'immediate'/appropriate technologies (organizing waste pickers for sanitation; using buckets for floods, etc)
What do we learn from Dakar? the importance of municipal governments
5. A municipal gov't may also need to play a certain role in 'smart city' planning
A very brief (mainly economic) history of Dubai: Dispute between Dubai and Abu Dhabi
A border dispute led to a brief war between Dubai and Abu Dhabi in 1947, but was quelled by the British, suggesting a long lasting rivalry between these two cities
Dubai: Forward to the 21st century: city of spectacle
After 2008/financial collapse; after 2010; city as a center for international finance, including Islamic banking and finance, AI, tourism, the city as a port, etc. (e.g. UAE 2020 Blockchain initiative, etc.) Mega-engineering and spectacles of tourism (palm islands and ski areas)
Challenges of those living in illegal kampong
And while this is in newer accommodation, piped water is intermittent or of poor quality, and people are forced to buy potable water from water sellers at a higher price than in the kampung
a Paris Grand Projet (2)
Bibliotheque Francois Mitterrand (the new national library serviced by a metro that opened in the 2000s) buildings look like open books (ex-industrial location)
Mumbai Inequality III: a short economic and social history of Mumbai(e.g. textile history)
Bombay grows rapidly during the 20th century from the textile industry, but 'civil society' (society organized into all kinds of groups) increasingly mobilizes around communism and a worker and welfare movements. British colonial officials try to resist this. As the textile industry evolves, it is pushed further and further to the northern periphery of Bombay and the city becomes more of a service and finance-oriented city
Rio: City of pleasure in the 1930s
By the 1930s, it became reputed for its parties, carnival, beaches and luxury hotels
a Paris Grand Projet (7)
Centre Pompidou (1977), designed by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers (wasn't consistent with the city's design- threw modernism at your face)
Dubai City of despair: Role of charities in migrant welfare
Charities have often filled the void for providing food, hygiene, and health needs. Such bodily demands and responses are tolerated by the UAE government, so long as migrants do not have political demands
Los Angeles School: chi to la
Chicago in the 1920s was the typical 'modern' U.S. city (a service and manufacturing-based CBD, surrounded by low-income immigrant neighborhoods, and progressively wealthier neighborhoods as distance increased from the CBD)
Characteristics of the cultural economy of Paris and 'untraded interdepedencies'
During the 1990s and into the 21st century, the cultural economy of paris was dominated by clusters of small independent main producers and subcontractors, but also by larger firms. However, some producers such as perfumers have moved out to cheaper cities, esp. Orleans
a Paris Grand Projet (4)
Grande Arche de la Defense, opened for the French bicentennial, 1989, designed by a Danish architect, Otto Von Spreckelsen and at the site of a former mid-20th century bidonville (shanty town), in Nanterre
A very brief (mainly economic) history of Dubai: Trucial states
In 1820, these sheikhdoms became the 'Trucial states' (a british protectorate) through a peace treaty between the British and the sheikdoms
The case of Kampung Polo (the illegal kampong)
In 2015, bulldozers and construction workers, accompanied by police razed some 150 homes in kampung pulo in the space of a few days. Compensation is possible, but only if you have either a jakarta ID and/or a land registration certificate But even with an ID or a certificate, one is then relocated to the outskirts of jakartax
Dakar's Government's Response to problems: 2. Improving basic infrastructure (electricity, water, sewage/solid waste collection).
In terms of waste, open air untreated landfills in poorer neighborhoods such as pikine (eg) lead to higher incidence of diarrhea and respiratory infections. One strategy is to formalize informal waste pickers
Rio: Oil exploration in the 1960s onwards/Petrobas
In the late 1960s (as in dubai), off-shore oil exploration begins and the brazilian government owned company, Petrobras locates its headquarters in Rio
Dakar, Senegal: Issues of growth and land tenure
Inadequate and/or problematic land tenure (ownership) laws with with frequent evictions, inhibits people from investing in their housing and from the government to collect taxes for services
a Paris Grand Projet (3)
L'Institut dunMonde Arabe (Arab World Institute), funded by 18 Arab Countries and France, to represent the Arab World in France, and to symbolize friendly relationships between France and the Arab World
a Paris Grand Projet (1)
La villette- la Geode, cité de la science et de L'Industrie, built on the site of a former slaughterhouse (abattoir), northeastern paris. Main museum building of science next to the Geode
New housing construction and commercial development in jakarta (2000s and 2010s)
Large indonesian companies have built peri-urban gated communities. Often have californian architecture and names, such as Orange County or Malibu They will also include office space, access to english education and religious facilities. The desire for land and housing seems endless (many indonesians prefer real estate over the stock market, as an investment, and the ROI is enormous, comparatively speaking) Whole new towns and industrial zones have been constructed, as have land reclamations including the construction of a 'Great Sea Wall'
Paris: Opera Bastille as a typically controversial project
Opera bastille (or the new opera, bastille opera or the people's opera): built in 1989, designed by uruguayan architect, Carlos Ott. Too fancy, should have been made for the people, cheaper tickets. 9 subway lines under square, so the created layers on the outside and used dampening techniques
Dubai City of despair: Problems with the Kafala system
Problems with the kafala system: employers or recruitment agencies holding passports so migrants can't leave; wage theft; remote, cramp, and squalid housing (without a/c and sometimes working toilets), the inability to organize collectively, and sexual abuse. A path to citizenship is impossible.
Resistance to displacement
Residents are not passive however: charities and other NGOs (e.g. Jakarta Legal Aid) help the displaced fight for their rights (against eviction, for better replacement housing, and even the design for new housing)
Paris: Industrialization, demographic change, pressure on housing
Returning soldiers from WWII and a growing population put enormous pressure on housing, and much of the existing housing stock in the eastern and northern arrondissements (districts) of the city were dilapidated by the standards of other large western European cities -With upward socio-economic mobility, French citizens would move into Pavillons (single family housing) and working class immigrants (mainly from Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia) eventually moved into the HLM and banlieues during the late 1960s and 1970s
Distinction between legal and illegal kampungs
Since 1988, the government deemed some kampungs as legal and some as illegal From that point on, any kampung would be made illegal if it was set up on: Streets Within 10 meters of rivers or other bodies of water Green spaces including parks Next to train lines Under bridges and overpasses
Is café life still significant in Paris?
Still famous? Les Deux Magots, Blvd. St. Germain, 5th arrondissement Is cafe life still significant in Paris? It's declining now as opposed to when intellectuals (philosophers) would gather to debate and communicate ideas
Emergence of the Los Angeles School
The LA school emerged in the 1980s and began to describe LA as 'the capital of the 21st century' and as a different city than chicago (or at least the way it was represented by the 'chicago school') The los angeles school- just prior to the emergence of the global city hypothesis
Basic problems in Dakar
The authors argue that a 'smart city' begins with basic services (piped water, electricity, sewage). In dakar, most people have piped water and electricity, but less than half have the 'modern' sewage facilities. But dakar has other pressing problems, like periodic floods
Dakar, Senegal: Political and religious spatial structure
The city's decentralized governance structure (with many local authorities) owes itself to the Lebou, and is heavily based on Islamic justice from the Quran (Koran)
Mumbai Inequality III: a short economic and social history of Mumbai(Autarky and 'import substitution policies')
The indian government pursued 'autarky' of 'import substitution policies' during the 1960s and 1970s (cutting off imports in order to protect and/or grow one's own national industries) In the place of exports, the government pours money into engineering, food processing, and petrochemicals, while neglecting textile production The low-skilled textile industry is restructured and declines in mumbai in the 1980s, leading to mass unemployment among textile workers. Low skilled labor intensive manufacturing in general moved out of the city
Dakar's Government's Response to problems: 4. But municipal gov'ts may also create overarching policies
The national and city gov't launched a program called PROGEP in 2012, and would last for the period 2013-2017. This plan consisted of 5 elements: a) preparation of a master plan b) storm water drainage construction c) mapping flood risk in urban areas d) creating a flood prevention GIS (Geographic Information System). GIS usually refers to the combination of comp. Hardware and software e) engage communities in flood reduction and adaptation
Religious tensions and violence in mumbai: unequal treatment of Muslims
These tensions are fueled by the perceived and real unequal treatment of Muslims by Hindus in India, as well as by the shadow of Hindu Nationalism through the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
What are the problems for residents of kampungs? (e.g. lack of land title)
Those (especially low-income residents) who want to register their land often face difficulties because: A. it takes a lot of time and costs a lot; the costs are made worse by the need to make illegal payments to officials B. itis very bureaucratic, meaning that there are a number of planning requirements that need to be adhered to C. it often requires political connections with local officials
a Paris Grand Projet (6)
Tour eiffel (opened in 1889 for the world's fair and designed by Gustave Eiffel) (wasn't consistent with the city's skyline)
Conclusions: Does the story about Kampungs reflect Harvey's idea of 'accumulation by dispossession? If so, to what extent?
Well yes, but it varies by the income of residents, their legal right to land, which often depends on the kampung they live in It involves co-0optation (money or new housing) and coercion (bull-dozing, stalking, threatening) Kapung residents are not so easily dispossessed of their land Kampung residents can make huge sums of money off their land, but thus depends on negotiation with the developer, etc (or a little money by subletting new accommodation) In short, there is a geography to accumulation by dispossession
Religious tensions and violence in mumbai
bombay/mumbai has been beset by sporadic religious tensions and violence (perhaps created by the implicit British policy of 'divide and rule') between Hindus and Muslimes. Among the most devastating: These tensions are fueled by the perceived and real unequal treatment of Muslims by Hindus in India, as well as by the shadow of Hindu Nationalism through the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
Dubai City of despair: environmental challenges: clean energy
dubai is moving away from an oil and natural gas-based energy supply to coal, nuclear, and solar. The city government announced in february 2019 that it will build a solar energy based desalination plant.
Dubai City of despair: Strikes of migrant workers
however , in 2007 about 30,000-40,000 workers protested against their housing and living conditions in the center of the city for 2 weeks. The government then began to tolerate strikes in the labor camps to keep the strikes invisible from tourists in the center of the city.
Mumbai Inequality 1
illustration of someone's large house
Rio: Criticisms of the idea of 'race'
in the critical social sciences, 'race' does not exist; it is not a biological category. 'Races' only 'exist' insofar as people treat people differently because of the relative color of their shin, type of hair, language/dialect, territorial or cultural origins, etc. That is, 'race' is made real by racism
In contrast, Kampungs - what are they? What are their characteristics?
places for lower/middle low classes to live. Very hard to own land and afford new housing. some are long-standing from the Dutch colonial era and benefited from improvement programs Others look more like the usual 'shanty towns' built in marginal land, are very unhealthy places, and most of the residents are newcomers from rural areas
Paris: city of art and revolution begins with
the book and film Parfum (Perfume)
a Paris Grand Projet (5)
the columns of Buren, behind the 17th century Palais de Justice (commissioned by the Ministry of Culture- Jack LAng - "culture and economy: the same battle")- ugly zebra poles
