Editorial

5 pages, 210 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Urban Inequality: The City after the 2007 Crisis

by Jesús M. González-Pérez

Urban Sci. 2018, 2(3), 62; https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci2030062 - 31 Jul 2018

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3323

After the impact of the 2007 crisis and post-crisis austerity policies, cities are being reconfigured under the auspices of inequality. Social divides are widening, and there is a growing population of excluded and poor people. The urban and welfare state crises of the [...] Read more.

After the impact of the 2007 crisis and post-crisis austerity policies, cities are being reconfigured under the auspices of inequality. Social divides are widening, and there is a growing population of excluded and poor people. The urban and welfare state crises of the 1980s are currently being replicated, albeit even more acutely, given that the welfare state in many countries is very weak and there are worrying signs of a crisis of democracy. In the present urban order of globalization, new players have emerged from the financial sector, including investment funds and the so-called vulture funds. Our contribution to this Special Issue is an analysis of urban inequality today based on theoretical and empirical research. The issue includes articles on social movements and resistance in Latin American cities, vulnerability in crisis-hit Spanish cities, and the segregation and quality of basic services in US cities. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Inequality)

Research

Jump to: Editorial, Review

18 pages, 3168 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Counter Land-Grabbing by the Precariat: Housing Movements and Restorative Justice in Brazil

by Clara Irazábal

Urban Sci. 2018, 2(2), 49; https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci2020049 - 13 Jun 2018

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 4937

Abstract

Social housing movements in Brazil, whose majority members are part of Brazil’s precariat or lowest-income class, are courageously pressing for true urban reform in Brazil, whose old promise has been systematically delayed and subverted, even by some of those who were put in [...] Read more.

Social housing movements in Brazil, whose majority members are part of Brazil’s precariat or lowest-income class, are courageously pressing for true urban reform in Brazil, whose old promise has been systematically delayed and subverted, even by some of those who were put in power to realize it. By occupying vacant and underutilized land and buildings, not only are these movements confronting neoliberalism in Brazil at a time of the model’s highest level of hegemony in the country and the world, they are also unveiling the impossibility of the system to deliver sociospatial justice to the poor and are enacting an alternative. Through restorative justice practices, they go beyond critique and press for an alternate sociopolitical project that would allow millions of people in Brazil access to decent housing, and through it, to a myriad of other opportunities, including the right to the city. As shown in the experiences of those participating in housing struggles, restorative justice deserves further exploration as an alternative planning mode that can combine the strengths of advocacy planning and communicative action while reducing their drawbacks. These reflections focus on the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Sen Teto (MTST) and partially feed from team ethnographic and planning studio work on several building and land occupations in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo in Brazil in 2016. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Inequality)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

21 pages, 48145 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Urban Vulnerability in Spanish Medium-Sized Cities during the Post-Crisis Period (2009–2016). The Cases of A Coruña and Vigo (Spain)

by María José Piñeira-Mantiñán, Francisco R. Durán-Villa and José Taboada-Failde

Urban Sci. 2018, 2(2), 37; https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci2020037 - 19 Apr 2018

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 4425

Abstract

The economic crisis and post-crisis austerity policies have had harmful effects on urban spaces, mainly in those neighborhoods that have historically been characterized by their vulnerability (social problems, long-term unemployment, low incomes, immigration, etc.). This vulnerability has become more evident in cities that [...] Read more.

The economic crisis and post-crisis austerity policies have had harmful effects on urban spaces, mainly in those neighborhoods that have historically been characterized by their vulnerability (social problems, long-term unemployment, low incomes, immigration, etc.). This vulnerability has become more evident in cities that are greater in size (Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville). However, such casuistry is also observed in medium-sized cities (250,000–500,000 inhabitants) that are prominent urban and economic hubs in their regions. In this article we will analyze to what extent the crisis has impacted the different urban sectors through the analysis of degree of vulnerability. For this, the cities of A Coruña and Vigo—the two main urban poles of the Autonomous Region of Galicia—will be taken as case studies. In addition, we will analyze the proposals to combat vulnerability presented by the ruling parties in their programs for the 2015 municipal elections. Elections that in Spain marked a turning point in the form of governance and priorities to attend (attention to those most affected by the crisis, stop eviction processes, reduction of intra-urban inequality). We will analyze to what extent they have implemented. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Inequality)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

22 pages, 845 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Social Resistances and the Creation of Another Way of Thinking in the Peripheral “Self-Constructed Popular Neighborhoods”: Examples from Mexico, Argentina, and Bolivia

by Chryssanthi (Christy) Petropoulou

Urban Sci. 2018, 2(1), 27; https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci2010027 - 19 Mar 2018

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 4279

Abstract

This study refers to urban social movements, creative social resistances, and the collectives that are emerging today in “self-constructed popular neighborhoods” (“barrios de auto-construcción popular” in Latin-American, Spanish bibliography; “quartiers d’auto-construction populaire” in French bibliography and “self-help housing” in Anglophone bibliography), with a [...] Read more.

This study refers to urban social movements, creative social resistances, and the collectives that are emerging today in “self-constructed popular neighborhoods” (“barrios de auto-construcción popular” in Latin-American, Spanish bibliography; “quartiers d’auto-construction populaire” in French bibliography and “self-help housing” in Anglophone bibliography), with a special focus on the new characteristics of these movements and the poetics of their daily practices. Firstly, a cartographic approach is explained through the concept of eco-landscapes; a qualitative analysis follows based on interviews and a review of the secondary literature. In particular, this research focuses on cases of movements and collectives in villas in South Greater Buenos Aires, barrios of Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl in the Metropolitan Area of Mexico City, and barrios of El Alto in the Metropolitan Area of La Paz. It shows that the poetics of creative resistances question the symbolic power of territorial stigmatization. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Inequality)

212 KiB

Open AccessCommunication

Urbanization and Inequality/Poverty

by Brantley Liddle

Urban Sci. 2017, 1(4), 35; https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci1040035 - 27 Nov 2017

Cited by 55 | Viewed by 12729

Abstract

The level of world urbanization has crossed the 50% mark, and nearly all future population growth is projected to occur in cities. Cities are disproportionately wealthy, but are associated with poverty, too. Addressing the dual challenges of urbanization and poverty is key to [...] Read more.

The level of world urbanization has crossed the 50% mark, and nearly all future population growth is projected to occur in cities. Cities are disproportionately wealthy, but are associated with poverty, too. Addressing the dual challenges of urbanization and poverty is key to achieving sustainable development. This paper performs cross-sectional regressions, based on Kuznets, as a starting point for understanding the relationship between urbanization and poverty/inequality indicators. Increases in gross domestic product per capita unambiguously lowered poverty and narrowed rural-urban gaps. By contrast, levels of urbanization were either unrelated to poverty/inequality indicators and measures of rural-urban gaps, or had a nonlinear effect where, initially, increases in urbanization likewise led to improvements in those areas, while at higher levels of urbanization, increases in urbanization exacerbated poverty and rural-urban gaps. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Inequality)

255 KiB

Open AccessArticle

City Sovereignty: Urban Resistance and Rebel Cities Reconsidered

by Vojislava Filipcevic Cordes

Urban Sci. 2017, 1(3), 22; https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci1030022 - 23 Jun 2017

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 6594

Abstract

The article argues for an increase in de facto already claimed city sovereignty. It situates the discussion, first in the historical context of city-state relationships, and second, in the current urban crises in the United States tied to the sanctuary city movement, then [...] Read more.

The article argues for an increase in de facto already claimed city sovereignty. It situates the discussion, first in the historical context of city-state relationships, and second, in the current urban crises in the United States tied to the sanctuary city movement, then examines legal grounds for devolution of power to cities, before discussing the legal concepts of “urban commons” and “city power”, finally outlining constraints facing increasingly sovereign cities. The article argues that current legal literature on “urban commons” and “city power” needs a stronger normative lens and better conceptualization of urban inequality, redistribution, and publicness. Moreover, if cities are to assume greater capacity to govern and to ensure life, liberty, and the sustainability of their populations, they have to overcome serious constraints in the four domains outlined in the article: (1) surveillance and control of urban space, (2) privatization of public space, (3) the rise of the luxury city, large-scale developments, megaprojects, and (4) homelessness. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Inequality)

3394 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Historic Roots of Modern Residential Segregation in a Southwestern Metropolis: San Antonio, Texas in 1910 and 2010

by Rebecca J. Walter, Nathan Foote, Hilton A. Cordoba and Corey Sparks

Urban Sci. 2017, 1(2), 19; https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci1020019 - 01 Jun 2017

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 7421

Abstract

This study seeks to understand the historic roots of modern segregation by comparing residential racial patterns in the city of San Antonio over time. The year 1910 is recreated for San Antonio by georeferencing and digitizing historic Sanborn maps and aligning residential structures [...] Read more.

This study seeks to understand the historic roots of modern segregation by comparing residential racial patterns in the city of San Antonio over time. The year 1910 is recreated for San Antonio by georeferencing and digitizing historic Sanborn maps and aligning residential structures with historical census and city directory race data for the head of household. The historical point data are aggregated to the census block level and compared to 2010 householder race data by calculating the two most common dimensions of residential segregation: evenness (dissimilarity and Theil’s index) and exposure (isolation and interaction). The findings reveal that by 1910 San Antonio was already a remarkably segregated city and the original patterns of residential segregation resemble contemporary San Antonio. Particularly, residential racial segregation in the Hispanic concentrated southwestern portion of the city has increased over time resulting in an exceptionally racially divided metropolis. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Inequality)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Editorial, Research

18 pages, 223 KiB

Open AccessReview

Pipe Dreams: Urban Wastewater Treatment for Biodiversity Protection

by Caitlin Cunningham and Mohammad Gharipour

Urban Sci. 2018, 2(1), 10; https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci2010010 - 30 Jan 2018

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 5346

Abstract

Wastewater treatment systems in urban areas of the United States have reached a critical replacement age. From century-old, deteriorating systems raw sewage overflows into basements, streets and surface waters. In economically depressed cities, sewage overflows are frequent and heavily fined, costing municipalities millions [...] Read more.

Wastewater treatment systems in urban areas of the United States have reached a critical replacement age. From century-old, deteriorating systems raw sewage overflows into basements, streets and surface waters. In economically depressed cities, sewage overflows are frequent and heavily fined, costing municipalities millions of dollars. Pollution by untreated wastewater severely degrades aquatic and wetland ecosystems and exacerbates serious risks to public health. Necessary and extensive clean water infrastructure repairs are imperative to protect the health and habitat of humans and other organisms. As accelerating human development contributes to wide spread losses of naturally occurring wetlands, dwindling patches of habitat native plant and animal species rely on for survival are further threatened. Within this alarming situation is an opportunity to rebuild and retrofit our wastewater treatment systems with infrastructure that enhances long-term ecosystem sustainability. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Inequality)

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

Urban Inequality

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editor

Special Issue Information

Keywords

Published Papers (8 papers)

Editorial

Research

Review

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI