Metropolitics

Plague and Urban Policy in Bombay, 1896–1914

Vanessa Caru & translated by Oliver Waine — 2022-11-18T06:00:00Z

What consequences can an epidemic have on a city? Vanessa Caru describes the ways in which a plague epidemic in Bombay at the turn of the 20th century changed the British colonial authorities' attitudes, the urban policies they implemented, and ultimately even the very morphology of the city.
On September 18, 1896, the first case of bubonic plague, in all likelihood spread by rats on board a boat from Hong Kong, was detected in Bombay (today Mumbai). As the first Indian city to be infected,

- From the Field / colonial urban planning, Mumbai, India, Bombay, history, urban policy, epidemic

We Have Been Here Before: Crisis, Response, and the Stasis of Urban Policy

Robert W. Lake — 2021-06-29T05:00:00Z

The disruptions produced by the global pandemic have spawned predictions of sweeping change that are unlikely to materialize. An example from a century ago explains why, and what we can do about it.
The front-page headline in the New York Times on May 6, 2021, optimistically announced a turning point in the ravages of the Covid‑19 pandemic in the United States. “Americans have entered a new, hopeful phase of the pandemic,” the Times reported, ushering in a “newfound optimism […] buoyed by a

- Essays / crisis, coronavirus, Covid-19, pandemic, history, urban policy, war, social change

Reclaim Value Capture for Equitable Urban Development

Laura Wolf-Powers — 2019-05-28T05:00:00Z

Land-value capture (LVC) mechanisms have become a popular tool for fiscally constrained municipal policymakers. However, there is evidence that many such policies exacerbate existing patterns of urban inequality. Drawing from work with the Pratt Center for Community Development in New York City, Laura Wolf-Powers urges a four-step approach that centers equity and resource redistribution.
The term “value capture” describes policies intended to “secure societal benefits from increases in land

- Debates / Atlanta, New York, urban planning, urban policy, real estate, inequalities, urban inequality, value capture, Georgia

Urban Renewal in the USA: A Neoliberal Policy?

Thomas Kirszbaum & translated by Oliver Waine — 2019-05-03T05:00:00Z

By allowing demolitions and evictions in well-located working-class neighborhoods, urban renewal is sometimes described as a neoliberal policy, favorable to land and property investors. But this interpretation, founded on the trauma of postwar urban policies, only tells part of the story when it comes to understanding contemporary urban renewal in the United States.
The policy of urban renewal implemented in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s came to symbolize the collusion of local

- Essays / working-class neighborhoods, working classes, urban renewal, United States, urban policy, capitalism, neoliberalism, demolition, Department of Housing and Urban Development, HOPE VI program

When Progressive Mayors Aren't Enough: Homes for All and Trans-Local Social Movements

H. Jacob Carlson & Marnie Brady & Gianpaolo Baiocchi — 2018-11-13T06:00:00Z

Progressive governments are often pulled away from their campaign promises by local growth-coalition interests or for other reasons. Social movements serve as necessary progressive counterweights. H. Jacob Carlson, Marnie Brady and Gianpaolo Baiocchi show how the growing Homes for All campaign uses trans-local organizing to connect organizers across distant places to build both local and national momentum for progressive housing demands.
---- Series: Progressive Mayors and Urban Social

- From the Field / housing, urban policy, social movement, United States, networks, affordable housing, progressive urban politics, policymaking, mayors, progressive mayors, trans-local, housing justice

Local Leadership and Global Goals: How City Sustainability Networks are Changing Progressive Policymaking

Emma French & Supraja Sudharsan & Jennifer Clark — 2018-09-18T09:47:41Z

While national governments often struggle to address global climate change, cities are in a better position to innovate, especially through peer networks that publicly value sustainability. However, challenges remain, notably in translating intention into action and building internal capacity. Here, we show how mayors have influenced policymaking in four southeastern US cities.
---- Series: Progressive Mayors and Urban Social Movements The global nature of environmental crises has

- Essays / urban policy, New Orleans, environment, United States, energy, networks, resilience, progressive urban politics, climate change, climate action plans, Atlanta, urban sustainability, capacity building, policymaking, Houston, Orlando, mayors, progressive mayors

The Limits of Progressive Policymaking in US Cities

Richard Schragger — 2018-09-11T05:05:00Z

While many US cities appear to enjoy extensive powers—as evidenced by the progressive policies enacted by certain mayors—local government is in reality often curbed by legislative retaliation at state and federal levels, in a context of ruthless political competition, geographical polarization, and rising anti-urbanism. Richard Schragger, author of City Power, sheds light on the dynamics at play and how cities can respond to them.
---- Series: Progressive Mayors and Urban Social Movements

- Essays / city, local government, urban policy, conflict, polarization, state, progressive urban politics, political geography, political power, anti-urbanism, policymaking, power play

Urban Shrinkage in France: An Invisible Issue?

Rémi Dormois & Sylvie Fol & translated by Oliver Waine — 2017-09-13T05:00:00Z

Although the phenomenon of urban shrinkage affects a significant number of French towns and cities, it is an issue that has so far been the subject of no real debate or dedicated policy at national level. A series of interviews with some of the actors involved in urban policy in France sheds light on the reasons for this long-standing “oversight” – and also reveals signs that “low-pressure housing markets” and devitalized town centres may finally be making it on to the political agenda.
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- Essays / France, housing, housing policy, urban policy, urban renewal, deindustrialization, social housing, downtown, city centre, shrinking cities, urban decline, housing markets, urban shrinkage, devitalization, devitalization of town centres

On Clinton, Obama, Trump and the Failures of Liberal Urban Policy

James DeFilippis — 2016-11-15T15:03:01Z

Many progressives are still in shock at the outcome of the recent US presidential election. In this contribution to the “Debates” section of Metropolitics, James DeFilippis advances a policy-based explanation for anemic voter turnout in key Democratic cities.
In the closing days of the seemingly endless 2016 US presidential campaign, it became increasingly clear to political observers that Hillary Clinton was explicitly adopting a platform of continuity with President Barack Obama's

- Debates / urban policy, elections, US election, presidential election, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump

“Grands Ensembles”: Retracing a History of Rejection

Stéphane Füzesséry & translated by Oliver Waine — 2016-01-15T05:55:00Z

From its very beginnings, the urban model of the “grand ensemble” – the large-scale high-rise housing estate – has appealed to film-makers. For half a century, these films have not only recorded and established image-types but also changed people's representations of these neighbourhoods – and, more generally, their rejection of them.
Reflections – and doubts – concerning urban policy in France currently abound, particularly on the direction that should be taken by the second phase of the

- Reviews / Île-de-France, Paris region, housing projects, urban policy, urban renewal, housing estates, suburbs, neighborhood, representations, cinema