Through writing these blogs, and you reading them, we’ve most likely come to the same conclusion. The fundamental crux of Cape Town’s uneven, urban metabolism is its systemic racism and the physical legacy of Apartheid. Once an ideology that sought to control one race by another; racial segregation was not only institutionalised by the state…
The cost-cutting approach to public transport in Berlin: taking transport providers ‘for a ride’?
In 2019, Berlin announced that public transport will be entirely free for school children and also reduces fares for apprentices [1]. Following the footsteps of Luxemburg, who said earlier this year they would introduce fare free public transport in the city, Berlin are now making incremental progress towards this concept to ensure equal access to…
Berlin’s smart approach II – Trash heaven
Following from last week’s blog which looked at Berlin’s smart approach to rainwater management, the same ‘smartness’ can be identified in their waste management strategies. Berlin has one of the most innovate and technologically advanced waste management systems in the world. With Germany’s decision to ban the use of traditional landfill sites in 2005, municipals had…
Montreal’s water management
Montreal is situated in Canada, whose water abstractions per capita, were the second biggest of the OECD countries in 2011. A McGill university webpage indicates that the average Canadian uses about 329L of water every day and that according to the Ville de Montréal, the average Montrealer uses 225L everyday. To compare, on the website…
Responding to Cape Town’s Sanitation Crisis: when poo gets ‘poolitical’
In a previous blog post, the origins and legacy of Cape Town’s uneven access to sanitation was explored. The conditions amongst the city’s Townships were shown to convey nothing less than a sanitary crisis. Unfortunately, like much of the municipality’s response to urban inequality, existing attempts at resolving this dilemma constitute a ‘business as usual’…
A different angle: Mexico City’s UPE through techno-scientific art /summary
Although a very different viewpoint on Mexico City’s UPE, I am aware that my blog is focuses on the more traditional way of analysing UPE issues. This is a short attempt at branching out from those roots. My focus will be on Mexico City resident and artist Gilberto Esparza’s art and its relation to Mexico…
Montreal, pioneer in Urban Agriculture
In 2013, a survey indicated that 42% of Montrealers practiced urban agriculture. Montreal have been a pioneer in this domain and is still ahead of its time. Stéphane Castongay explains in a chapter of the book Montreal, The History of a North American City, the agricultural past of Montreal since the arrival of European settlers,…
Berlin’s smart approach I: The ‘sponge city’ concept
Despite Germany’s status as the ‘green leader’ of Europe, the capital scored a rather disappointing score of 3.34 out of 10 for environmental protection [1]. Since then, the city has displayed attempts to address climate change and environmental protection against flooding by integrating them within their ‘smart’ approaches. By looking at the newly implemented ‘sponge…
Urban Agriculture (UA) – a force for repairing the ‘metabolic rift’
In a previous blog post, I explored the relationship between nonwhite communities and access to nature in Cape Town. I also touched on the prevalent issue of a nature/human dichotomy culturally acquired by wider mainstream society; a particularly problematic notion for Cape’s black demographic who continue to endure a legacy of segregation. However, ‘Bottom Road…
Introducing Berlin’s Urban Political Ecology
Hello and welcome to my blog exploring the urban political ecology of Berlin. Urban political ecology (UPE) is a broad and diverse discipline that explores cultural, social, political and economic factors in ecological issues. In the context of these blog posts, it is utilised as a lens to address specific urban issues occurring in Berlin….
Urban Political Ecology UCL 