Will Habitat III defend the human right to the city?
The Right to the City idea challenges us first and foremost as individuals to decide what basic human rights – such as land, housing, water and sanitation – are “non-negotiable” … Continue reading
Unplugging: Deconstructing the Smart City
This paper explores the subtle notion of unplugging to critically analyze the technological determinism of the Smart City. This exploration suggests that being digitally connected should not be perceived as … Continue reading
Handbook on Urban Infrastructure Finance
As a part of the Financing Urban Infrastructure Initiative launched in 2015 the New Cities Foundation has just published a Handbook on Urban Infrastructure Finance, a tool to help cities … Continue reading
Plastic and the city
The burden of single-use plastic bags on urban infrastructure has been a focus of the environmentalist movements and urbanist thought in the 21st century. Single-use plastic bags, however, are not … Continue reading
Governing the ungovernable: spatial policy, markets and volume house-building in a growth region
The global rhetoric surrounding the role of private markets in the provision of new housing masks a more complex reality in which public policy and private developers are deeply enmeshed, … Continue reading
Urban world: The global consumers to watch
Until the turn of this century, population growth generated more than half of all global consumption. But between 2015 and 2030, three-quarters of global consumption growth will be driven by … Continue reading
Involuntary Resettlement
Report by the World Bank Inspection Panel. The report, which analyzed 22 years of complaints to the Inspection Panel by communities alleging they were harmed by bank projects, found that more … Continue reading
The Art of Inequality: Architecture, Housing, and Real Estate
Typically, inequality is defined by a combination of economic measures referring to income and wealth. Entire populations, in the language of statistics, are measured and managed according to their place … Continue reading
Missing the Millennium Development Goal targets for water and sanitation in urban areas
David Satterthwaite – This paper reviews progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for water and sanitation in urban areas. Drawing on UN data, it shows the disastrous performance of many … Continue reading
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