Metropolitics

From non-planning to cutting-edge policy: the transformation of waste management in Boston since the 1980s

Lily Baum Pollans — 2019-06-11T05:00:00Z

Recycling and composting are hot topics. Lily Baum Pollans argues that Boston's changing approach to waste management represents a more radical shift than some might think.
In 2018, the city of Boston banned plastic bags and launched a zero-waste initiative. In doing so, Boston joined a growing list of cities using solid-waste management to advance sustainability and climate goals by closing material loops and reducing consumption. Despite recent setbacks in the global recycling market, these

- Essays / United States, Boston, environment, waste, waste management, recycling, sanitation, hygienism

Cities transformed by hygienism: 100 years of local innovation

Sabine Barles & translated by Oliver Waine — 2015-03-27T05:55:00Z

Hygiene is a “battle”, and the “hygienist revolution” of the 19th and early 20th centuries transformed our urban societies. This battle, which has been charted by the historian Stéphane Frioux, spread from city to city, based on “applied science” that was taken up by a variety of public and private stakeholders, reflecting the inventiveness and competence of the local authorities of the time.
Hygiene and hygienism have long attracted the attention of historians – historians of urban issues,

- Reviews / France, innovation, environment, water, sanitation, waste, utilities, urban public service, hygienism, salubrity, urban technical networks, urban services, health

Water, sanitation, energy, waste: the dawn of the network-free city?

Sylvain Petitet & translated by Oliver Waine — 2012-04-18T04:45:00Z

Negative externalities, changes in society and technological innovation all call into question the industrial model used to organise urban services and utilities. For Sylvain Petitet, it is high time to consider new models and new complementarities for the provision of these urban services.
For almost two centuries, an industrial model characterised by the creation and operation of major urban networks has fashioned the development of cities and has established itself as the only service

- Debates / innovation, energy, water, public–private partnership, sanitation, waste, networks, territorial development, utilities, urban public service, urban technical networks, urban services