A Roundtable with Theresa Enright, Bérénice Bon, Philippe Koch, and Roger Keil
Roger Keil's new book, 'Suburban Planet', is a major contribution to (re)thinking the urban age in terms its peripheries rather than its centres. He seeks to provide us with a way of coming to terms with the process of suburbanization and the diversity of suburban forms. But does he succeed? And what are the political implications of his arguments? Listen to our book forum with Theresa Enright (University of Toronto), Berenice Bon (French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development, Paris), Philippe Koch (Zurich University of Applied Sciences) and Roger Keil (York University, Canada).
Erschienen: 23.09.2019
Dauer: 00:37:44
Weitere Informationen zur Episode "Reviewing Suburban Planet"
Interview with Roger Keil on his book "Suburban Planet"
We are living on a suburban planet, if you ask Roger. He even wrote a book with that title. In the interview, he elaborates on the political implications of that condition. Situating his work on global suburbanisms in relation to the L.A. School and the debate around planetary urbanization, he flexes his intellectual muscles to make us believe that it is the suburbs that Marx and Lefebvre would pay most attention to today. Plus, find out about his surprise as Markus read a book passage back to him. “I must have been high on something when I wrote that.” Roger Keil is a Professor at the Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University in Toronto. He researches global suburbanization, urban political ecology, cities and infectious disease, and regional governance. Keil is the author of "Suburban Planet" (Polity 2018) and editor of "Suburban Constellations" (Jovis 2013). A co-founder of the International Network for Urban Research and Action (INURA), he was the inaugural director of the CITY Institute at York University and former co-editor of the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research. Making cities better places in the age of smart urbanism and in the era of anthropocentric climate change remains dependent on how we build new structures for sustainable and adaptive use and how we build equal spaces that defy the capitalist laws of uneven development.
Erschienen: 09.09.2019
Dauer: 00:36:11
Weitere Informationen zur Episode "Take Your Eyes Off the City Center!"
Roundtable with Richard Wolff, Kate Shaw, Tomislav Tomasevic, and Ulrike Hamann
The call to make academic research more socially relevant has become a commonplace. But what does it mean to for academic research to benefit urban activism? What is to be done when the logics of academia obstruct deeper activist engagements? This roundtable engages these challenges with four seasoned activist-scholars. Kate and Uli work in academia using different strategies to relate their job with activist engagements. Tomislav and Richard both have a background in urban research and have entered local politics. Tomislav recently entered Zagreb city council as a member of the opposition and Richard became part of the Zurich city government. Discussion ensues among the participants about the prospects of straddling the requirements of research and action. A controversial and collegial late-night open-air wine-panel in the context of the INURA (International Network for Urban Research and Action) conference in Zagreb in July 2019. Participants: Richard Wolff is an urban researcher and activist from Switzerland Co-founder of the International Network for Urban Research and Action INURA in 1991. PhD at ETH Zurich in Participatory urban planning, the example of the King's Cross Railway Lands Development in London, 1994 - 1999. Lecturing positions in the US and Switzerland. Since 2013, elected member of the City Government of Zurich, Head of the Department of Civil Engineering and Waste Management Kate Shaw is a critical urban geographer at the University of Melbourne, interested mainly in the cultures of cities and the political-economic and social processes that shape them. She is currently working on a book titled "The squander and salvage of urban waterfronts," which looks at the redevelopment of the deindustrialised docks and harbours in rich countries, and the wasted opportunities. With Libby Porter she co-edited "Whose Urban Renaissance? An international comparison of urban regeneration strategies." Dr. Ulrike Hamann is a postdoctoral researcher at the Berlin Institute for empirical integration and migration research (BIM) at Humboldt University in Berlin. She works at the department of Diversity and Social Conflict. She is also an urban activist and co-founder of the neighbourhood initiative Kotti & Co, has been active in several Berlin urban initiatives and networks such as the Rent Referendum (Mietenvolksentscheid), The Urbanize Festival, the Dossier Group and others. Her main interests are at the intersection of housing and migration, racism, solidarity and neighbourhood. She has published on the welcome movement for refugees in Germany, on the housing situation of refugees and is currently leading two research projects on urban settings and the arrival of refugees. Tomislav Tomašević holds a BA and MA in political science from the University of Zagreb and MPhil in environment, society and development from the University of Cambridge. Tomislav’s research interests are in issues of sustainability and urban commons. He currently works as a Program Director at the Institute for Political Ecology, a newly established think-tank in Croatia, and is now a member of city council of Zagreb under the platform "Zagreb je NAŠ!"
Erschienen: 09.09.2019
Dauer: 00:36:32
Weitere Informationen zur Episode "Bridging Urban Research and Action"
Berlin's left-wing government and the redevelopment of Checkpoint Charlie
Part 2: Regaining Democratic Control The second part examines the extent to which democratic control has been exerted in the Checkpoint Charlie case and how development plans have been modified under increased pressure from societal groups. Listen to hear about the possibilities of contesting tourist-centred developments in inner cities and why activists should never automatically trust a leftwing government… Our studio guest: Christoph Sommer is completing his PhD in geography at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU Berlin); using Berlin as case, he is exploring how conflict-prone urban tourism is (un-)governed. He is co-founder of the Urban Research Group New Urban Tourism at the Georg Simmel Center for Metropolitan Studies (HU Berlin) and recently co-edited the book Tourism and Everyday Life in the Contemporary City.
Erschienen: 09.09.2019
Dauer: 00:30:48
Weitere Informationen zur Episode "Reclaiming the Tourist City - Part 2"
Berlin's left-wing government and the redevelopment of Checkpoint Charlie
Part 1: Heritage Preservation and Urban Development Much-visited by tourists and generally avoided by Berliners, the site has faced growing conflict over plans to develop a hotel, Hard Rock Cafe and museum. This first part details the historical importance of the empty plots at the former Cold War border crossing and reflects on wider debates about heritage, tourism and urban development.Find out why urban emptiness can have heritage value. Our studio guest: Christoph Sommer is completing his PhD in geography at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU Berlin); using Berlin as case, he is exploring how conflict-prone urban tourism is (un-)governed. He is co-founder of the Urban Research Group New Urban Tourism at the Georg Simmel Center for Metropolitan Studies (HU Berlin) and recently co-edited the book Tourism and Everyday Life in the Contemporary City.
Erschienen: 09.09.2019
Dauer: 00:34:25
Weitere Informationen zur Episode "Reclaiming the Tourist City - Part 1"
The teaser to what we are up to!
Welcome to the Urban Political Podcast! In this brief episode, we introduce ourselves, tell you about the motivation and purpose behind the podcast and what you should expect to hear in our pod in the following months.
Erschienen: 28.08.2019
Dauer: 00:06:07
