Metropolitics

A Crisis of Habitation in LA's Last Remaining Wetland

Deike Peters & Sam Lutzker — 2025-03-18T06:00:00Z

As housing crises become increasingly entangled with environmental crises, the question of just outcomes requires different ways of thinking. In their exploration of the politics of Los Angeles' Ballona Wetlands, Deike Peters and Sam Lutzker suggest the concept of multispecies justice may offer a pathway for negotiating these conflicts.
The Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve lies just south of famous Venice Beach in Los Angeles. Its 600 acres (240 ha) are all that remains of the once mighty

- From the Field / environmental justice, environment, ecology, urban ecology, housing crisis, housing, housing justice, habitat, wetlands, multispecies justice, United States, California, Los Angeles

An American in Marseille

Olivier Gaudin & translated by Oliver Waine — 2023-03-17T06:00:00Z

In his latest work, Marseille, Port to Port, the New York-based ethnographer William Kornblum paints a rich and vibrant sociological portrait of France's second city.
Marseille through the kaleidoscope
William Kornblum, emeritus professor at the City University of New York, is a sociologist renowned for his work in the field of urban ethnography, devoted to subjects ranging from a group of Harlem teenagers (Kornblum and Williams 1994) to, more recently, the New York subway's 7 Train, which

- Reviews / Marseille, New York, urban sociology, sociology, ethnography, urban ecology

Climate Change and Social Change

Gregory Smithsimon — 2018-04-03T05:30:00Z

Cities are home to more than half the world's population and the source of most global CO2 emissions—and yet often occupy vulnerable sites particularly sensitive to the effects of climate change. Out of necessity, cities have therefore become pioneers when it comes to responding to these changes. In this series, we examine not just the different strategies they deploy but also the associated social issues, and more specifically how questions of social justice and equity are taken into

- Series / environment, social justice, urban ecology, energy, climate change, sea-level rise, climate action plans, environmental justice, climate justice

Where Did the Bees Go? New York City Beekeeping Amid Ecological Crises

Mary Kosut & Lisa Jean Moore — 2016-04-05T05:00:00Z

The decline and extinction of bees and other pollinators threatens the global food supply. Residents in cities like New York have engaged in the practice of beekeeping to harvest honey and care for this essential species. Ethnographers Lisa Jean Moore and Mary Kosut explore the connections to urban sustainability that this new practice entails.
Bees have always lived in metropolitan spaces without the aid of humans. Yet, until very recently, most people never thought of them as a species that

- From the Field / environment, urban ecology, urban agriculture, New York, wildlife, Brooklyn, bees, urban beekeeping, colony collapse disorder, DIY, honeybees, pollination

Looking Backward into the Future of New York

Ted Steinberg — 2015-01-12T05:50:00Z

Can the lesson of Hurricane Sandy dampen the enthusiasm of New York City's growth machine? Ted Steinberg, author of Gotham Unbound, an environmental history of New York City, gives an overview of the historical developments that make the city one of the most vulnerable to floods in the United States.
How should those who rule over New York City plan for its future? Sketching out elaborate plans has long been a cottage industry in the nation's largest city. To date, however, historical

- Essays / catastrophe, disaster, environment, United States, urban ecology, land, water, New York, history, sustainable urban planning, Sandy, sea-level rise, flooding, vulnerability, wildlife

Flowers under the flagstones

Cédric Ansart & Emmanuel Boutefeu & translated by Oliver Waine — 2014-10-08T04:50:00Z

Cédric Ansart and Emmanuel Boutefeu explore new ways of enhancing city streets through the small-scale greening of footpaths and façades, and show how “asphalt flowers” can help to transform the way we share these spaces and blur the lines between the public and private domains.
---- Series: Nature in the City In recent years, flowers and climbing plants have been burgeoning along the footpaths and façades of city streets. This “greening” of urban thoroughfares is the result of operations

- From the Field / public space, environment, nature, urban ecology, green spaces, Lyon, Rennes

When agriculture meets the city…

André Torre & Lise Bourdeau-Lepage & translated by Oliver Waine — 2013-04-10T04:58:44Z

In this article, André Torre and Lise Bourdeau-Lepage consider the role of nature in the city through the prism of urban agriculture. They defend the idea that the future of this phenomenon is intimately linked to its landscape-related, aesthetic, and even educational qualities, so dear to the hearts of city dwellers.
---- Series: Nature in the City
Long celebrated as a vestige of a bygone age, agriculture in the city has now become an increasingly common feature on politicians' agendas,

- Debates / environment, nature, local governance, urban ecology, urban agriculture, agriculture, farming

The desirable city or the sustainable city: what is the role of green spaces?

Jean-François Guet & translated by Birdwell Institute — 2011-11-02T06:00:00Z

While green spaces are in great demand among city-dwellers, their presence alone is not enough to make the city desirable and to generate well-being. Jean-François Guet believes they should serve a dual function – practical and symbolic – and be accessible to all. At a time when sustainable cities are of prime importance, dealing with nature in towns everywhere and for all has become an urgent need and calls for better management of the parks and gardens that make up the urban public space.

- Debates / public space, nature, well-being, urban ecology, green spaces