Metropolitics

Inciting Hopes for the Future: Civic Activism in London, Mumbai, and Paris Amid the Covid‑19 Crisis

2021-06-08T05:00:00Z

Ethnographic research in London, Mumbai, and Paris during Covid‑19 lockdowns reveals how civic associations filled the void left by state withdrawal and offered visions of hope for socially excluded populations.
Our current global “human, economic and social crisis” (UN 2020) was driven by a deadly virus and deepened by governments' dedication to market-oriented solutions and to disempowering people deemed to be obstacles to those solutions. The neoliberal state's initial reactions to the

- From the Field / associations, lockdown, Covid-19, coronavirus, activism, civic organizing, civic activism, London, Paris, Mumbai, pandemic, India, United Kingdom

Culture and the Nighttime Economy: A Conversation with London's Night Czar and Culture-at-Risk Officer

Amin Ghaziani — 2019-11-12T06:00:00Z

Amin Ghaziani describes the high closure rate of LGBTQ nighttime venues in London, and the city's recognition of these venues' intertwined economic and cultural significance.
From 2006 to 2016, the number of LGBTQ bars, pubs, and nightclubs in London declined by 58%, falling from 125 venues to 53. Figure 1 shows the spatial distribution of these closures. The impact was most acute in central London.
An audit by the Greater London Authority (GLA) found that 44% of all nightclubs, 35% of all

- From the Field / LGBTQ+, homosexuality, night, London, United Kingdom, England, culture, nighttime economy, nightlife

The Happy Few and the Unhappy Many: Endangered Artists in Global Cities

Boris Grésillon & translated by John Barrett — 2017-06-15T07:00:00Z

While participating or having participated in reshaping urban spaces, artists seem to be increasingly driven away from city centers due to steep rents and are forced move farther and farther from the heart of metropolises. Will the global contemporary city, like the mythical figure Cronus devouring his own children, exclude its artists? Boris Grésillon examines the dynamics at work in four metropolitan centers: New York, London, Tokyo, and Paris.
The global city (Sassen 1991) is predominantly

- Essays / gentrification, Paris, London, New York, art, downtown, city centre, Tokyo, rental, right to the city, artist, arts, rent, global cities

Estate Regeneration in London: Politics and Protest

Gerald Koessl — 2017-01-31T07:00:00Z

Gerald Koessl describes dilemmas facing social-housing providers in London, where social housing often serves as the only affordable housing in gentrifying, high-cost neighbourhoods, but is also increasingly in disrepair. He critically assesses the emphasis on densification as a solution, and describes recent resident-led protest movements. The situation has strong parallels with the HOPE VI program in the US, which we hope to explore in a future article.
The regeneration of social-housing

- From the Field / gentrification, housing policy, social housing, London, public housing, protest, HOPE VI program

The Localism Act in London: institutionalising urban divisions

Justinien Tribillon — 2014-04-16T05:00:00Z

By decentralising planning powers to local communities, the British Conservative government claims that they are strengthening local democracy and protecting it from the mistakes of big government. In a map-based analysis of the effects of the Localism Act in London, Justinien Tribillon disputes this claim and underlines the reinforcement of urban economic divisions through a new parochialism.
“Good fences make good neighbours,” goes an English proverb.
Introduced by the coalition

- Debates / participation, local government, governance, local authorities, London, United Kingdom, local democracy, neighborhood, localism, England

Gentrification as a driver of social and racial tensions: the case of Brixton

Amélie Bertholet & translated by Oliver Waine — 2013-10-16T04:55:00Z

(In)famous for the various riots that have occurred there since the 1980s, the working-class district of Brixton in south London has recently seen an influx of middle-class residents who prize the area for its diversity and tranquillity. However, as Amélie Bertholet shows, this trend does not mean the end of the area's troubles.
Brixton, a neighbourhood in the inner-London borough of Lambeth, has been marked by a strong Jamaican presence since the end of the Second World War. This “[ethnic]

- From the Field / gentrification, social diversity, London, violence, minorities

Will local-government reform in London involve or abandon its citizens?

Martine Drozdz & translated by Oliver Waine — 2013-07-03T12:23:55Z

While the current financial crisis has compromised local authorities' ability to deliver municipal services, the Localism Act adopted in England in 2011 seeks to relieve the problem by encouraging greater involvement from civil society. However, when combined with drastic public spending cuts, this reform above all threatens to sideline citizens in favour of the private sector.
One of the first acts of the Conservative–Lib Dem coalition that came to power in the UK in 2010 was to bring in

- Debates / participation, local government, governance, local authorities, London, United Kingdom, local democracy, urban public service, neighborhood, localism, England, urban services

Skyline policy: the Shard and London's high-rise debate

Manuel Appert & translated by Oliver Waine — 2011-12-14T11:51:33Z

At a time when major cities are racing to build higher than ever, and when the construction of skyscrapers in France is proving contentious, particularly in ecological and social terms, new problems are emerging in the “old” European metropolises concerning the impact of towers on the landscape. As a result, cities such as London have had to revise their policies regarding the regulation of the skyline in an attempt to respond to these controversies.
---- Series: The Resurgence of Towers in

- Debates / architecture, governance, skyline, skyscrapers, London, United Kingdom, towers, high-rise, England