Urban Radar

• Radar 9: CONFLICT & URBAN TERRITORY - FROM UK HOMELESSNESS TO UPRISING IN NEPAL (+West Bank settlements, +witchcraft, +cars and more)

  This month we are joined by Dr Sam Burgum & Professor Simon Rushton to dive into what the new UK Minister for Homelessness should have on their agenda (27:50) and how we can understand the wider socio-economic issues shaping the recent Gen Z uprising in Nepal (50:08). Cutting across our discussions are questions of conflict over and in urban territory, federalism and decentralisation and how best to meet basic needs - such as shelter, health or security at the local (and national) level.Also on our radar:What does the new US-UK tech partnership mean for regional inequalities, and how might this be regulated?The implications of extended settlements or 'outposts' in the West BankThe urban dynamics of witchcraft What 'Your Party' could learn from New MunicipalismCities for cars not people? (and the masculinity of urban planning)Who is left to report on local democracy and conflict? The global crisis in press freedomGuests:Sam Burgum is a Visiting Researcher at the Urban Institute and works on homelessness, property and trespass. He has written about squatting in London, the city as archive, and the importance of a historical understanding of property ownership and who has the right to urban space.Simon Rushton is Professor of International Politics in the School of Politics, Sociology and International Relations, working across issues including healthcare in Nepal and peace in Colombia. One recent co-authored book is Participating in Peace with a range of colleagues, and collaborated with CORMEPAZ, Plataforma IAP and PHASE Nepal.Read More:Corbyn's MomentumBeyond the local trapBecoming common of the publicRoadkillHosts: Tom Goodfellow is Professor of Urban Studies and International Development in the School of Geography and Planning at the University of Sheffield. His research focuses on the political economy of urban development and change in Africa, particularly the politics of urban land and transportation, conflicts around infrastructure and housing, and urban institutional change. Beth Perry is Professor of Urban Epistemics and Director of the Urban Institute at the University of Sheffield. Her research focuses on the relationships between urban expertise, governance and justice, underpinned by a commitment to co-producing collective intelligence across multiple scales to address complex urban challenges. She has worked in cities in Africa, Europe and the UK. If you want to know more about the research featured in this podcast, follow Sheffield Urbanism on LinkedIn, or bluesky, Instagram or visit www.sheffield.ac.uk/urban-institute Email feedback to: [email protected] Thanks to the Faculty of Social Science at the University of Sheffield for funding this podcast and the Creative Media Suite for recording facilities.

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• Feature 8: URBAN INFORMALITY AND TRANSLOCAL LEARNING - A conversation with Melanie Lombard and Diana Mitlin

  In this month's episode Tom and Beth discuss the value of translocal learning to address poverty and inequality for women in low income communities in India, Southern Africa, Kenya and the UK. Joined by guests Melanie Lombard and Diana Mitlin, they ask:What can we learn from informal processes and practices in South Asian and African cities to address social injustice and poverty here in the UK?What kinds of trans-national networks can support this work and how do they build solidarities amongst and within low income communities?What does this mean for the roles of academics in realising more just cities?Guests:Dr Melanie Lombard is a Senior Lecturer in Urban Studies and Planning and Urban Institute Associate at the University of Sheffield. She is particularly interested in urban informality, and urban land and conflict processes. She has explored these themes in cities in Mexico, Colombia, Ethiopia, Uganda and Nigeria. Before moving to the University of Sheffield in 2016, she taught at the University of Manchester’s Global Development Institute/Global Urban Research Centre (2010-2016). Her previous professional experience includes working in the UK social housing sector. She is a Trustee of CLASS (Community Led Action and Savings Support), a charity supporting the Manchester-based Community Savers network.Professor Diana Mitlin works in the Global Development Institute | The University of Manchester. From 2020, Diana has been CEO of the African Cities Research Consortium. Diana’s work focuses on urban poverty reduction programmes and the contribution of co-production and collective action by low-income and otherwise disadvantaged groups. She has had a particular research focus on issues of urban basic services, tenure and housing.  Diana works closely with SDI (Slum/Shack Dwellers International), a trans-national network of homeless and landless people’s federations and NGOs.Hosts: Tom Goodfellow is Professor of Urban Studies and International Development in the School of Geography and Planning at the University of Sheffield. His research focuses on the political economy of urban development and change in Africa, particularly the politics of urban land and transportation, conflicts around infrastructure and housing, and urban institutional change. Beth Perry is Professor of Urban Epistemics and Director of the Urban Institute at the University of Sheffield. Her research focuses on the relationships between urban expertise, governance and justice, underpinned by a commitment to co-producing collective intelligence across multiple scales to address complex urban challenges. She has worked in cities in Africa, Europe and the UK. If you want to know more about the research featured in this podcast, follow Sheffield Urbanism on LinkedIn, or bluesky, Instagram or visit www.sheffield.ac.uk/urban-institute Email feedback to: [email protected] Thanks to the Faculty of Social Science at the University of Sheffield for funding this podcast and the Creative Media Suite for recording facilities.

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• Radar 8: SCHOOLING AND SURVIVING IN ENGLAND AND SUDAN (+policing/protests, +flags/fakes, +mining and cities on the move)

  This month we are joined by Drs Christina Tatham & Cathy Wilcock for a post-summer bumper episode. First in England, many children are starting school for the first time, including those with English as a second language, against a backdrop of stubborn spatial inequalities in educational outcomes later in life (31:26). Then, in the face of civil war and conflict in Sudan, we dive into how urban communities in and beyond national borders are finding ways to build resilience and retain diaspora identities (52:20).  And on our radar:Labubus & counterfeits in the cityLocal variations in policing protestsUrban mining over time Trump's 'take over' of Washington DCThe symbolism of flags & roundabouts How cities might survive the loss of their physical territoryGuests:Dr Christina Tatham is a Lecturer in Early Childhood Education and has written widely on superdiversity and multilingualism in schools, including the use of creative methodologies and the importance of play.Dr Cathy Wilcock is a post-doctoral researcher in the School of Geography and Planning whose work has focussed on Sudan, South Sudan and the formation and importance of diaspora communities, and music scenes.  More:The Pirate FunctionCities RethoughtDespite what The Atlantic says, Sudan is not locked in a war about nothingHosts: Tom Goodfellow is Professor of Urban Studies and International Development in the School of Geography and Planning at the University of Sheffield. His research focuses on the political economy of urban development and change in Africa, particularly the politics of urban land and transportation, conflicts around infrastructure and housing, and urban institutional change. Beth Perry is Professor of Urban Epistemics and Director of the Urban Institute at the University of Sheffield. Her research focuses on the relationships between urban expertise, governance and justice, underpinned by a commitment to co-producing collective intelligence across multiple scales to address complex urban challenges. She has worked in cities in Africa, Europe and the UK. If you want to know more about the research featured in this podcast, follow Sheffield Urbanism on LinkedIn, or bluesky, Instagram or visit www.sheffield.ac.uk/urban-institute Email feedback to: [email protected] Thanks to the Faculty of Social Science at the University of Sheffield for funding this podcast and the Creative Media Suite for recording facilities.

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• Feature 7: URBAN LABS IN TIMES OF CONFLICT AND POST-TRUTH - A conversation with Mona Fawaz & Nausheen Anwar

  In this month’s feature, Beth and Tom are joined by Professors Nausheen Anwar and Mona Fawaz, Directors of the Karachi Urban Lab and Beirut Urban Lab respectively. This feature is a live recording of an in-person event on Urban Research Labs in Times of Conflict and Post-Truth, recorded in July as part of the Sheffield Urbanism Summer Programme. This was an ‘in conversation’ event during which Tom and Beth explored the challenges that Mona and Nausheen face running urban labs in the face of persistent conflict, misinformation and authoritarianism. The conversation ranges from the origin and motivation for establishing their research labs, to the ways in which they curate urban data as a public good for advocacy and activism, to some of the specific issues on which they work including housing crises, climate change and migration.Guest biographies: Nausheen Anwar is the Founder and Director of the Karachi Urban Lab (KUL), which was set up in 2016 in a context where data production on the ‘urban’ in Pakistan remains top-down and largely technocratic. The KUL sees its role to fill a ‘gap’ in data/knowledge production from the ground up and in a critically oriented way. Nausheen is also a Professor of City & Regional Planning in the Department of Social Sciences & Liberal Arts (SSLA), IBA and Urban climate resilience lead and principal researcher, IIED's Human Settlements research group. Mona Fawaz is co-founder of the Beirut Urban Lab at the American University of Beirut, a regional research center invested in working towards more inclusive, just, and viable cities. The Lab produces scholarship on urbanization by documenting and analyzing ongoing transformation processes in Lebanon and its region's natural and built environments. It works towards materializing a vision of an ecosystem of change empowered by critical inquiry and engaged research, and driven by committed urban citizens and collectives. Mona is a Professor in Urban Studies and Planning at the American University of Beirut.---Thanks to AbdouMaliq Simone and the Canadian Institute For Advanced Research Humanity's Urban Future programme for supporting the visit and podcast. Hosts: Tom Goodfellow is Professor of Urban Studies and International Development in the School of Geography and Planning at the University of Sheffield. His research focuses on the political economy of urban development and change in Africa, particularly the politics of urban land and transportation, conflicts around infrastructure and housing, and urban institutional change. Beth Perry is Professor of Urban Epistemics and Director of the Urban Institute at the University of Sheffield. Her research focuses on the relationships between urban expertise, governance and justice, underpinned by a commitment to co-producing collective intelligence across multiple scales to address complex urban challenges. She has worked in cities in Africa, Europe and the UK. If you want to know more about the research featured in this podcast, follow Sheffield Urbanism on LinkedIn, or bluesky, Instagram or visit www.sheffield.ac.uk/urban-institute Email feedback to: [email protected] Thanks to the Faculty of Social Science at the University of Sheffield for funding this podcast and the Creative Media Suite for recording facilities.

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• Radar 7: URBAN POLITICS OF TRUTH AND WEALTH (+ AI data centres, +extreme heat and more)

  In this episode we are joined by Dr Katie Pruszynski and Professor Rowland Atkinson to explore how political and wealth elites are reshaping cities from New York to London and beyond. We dive into Zohran Mamdani's journey to becoming the Democratic Party's nominee for Mayor of New York City (25:10) and the pros and cons of increasing tax on the super-rich (47:26), through an urban political tour of truth and wealth.Also on our radar:The loss of pubs  & representations of young people's urban lifestylesAI data centres & their potential in low income neighbourhoodsThe past & future of pickpocketingUkrainian cities in reconstruction & resistanceThe urban impacts of extreme heat Celebrities & urban developmentGuests:Dr Katie Pruszynski is a PhD graduate in Political Psychology from the School of Sociological Studies, Politics and International Relations at the University of Sheffield. She has written on Donald Trump's 'wedge lies' and the new American oligarchy.Professor Rowland Atkinson is Chair in Inclusive Societies in the School of Geography and Planning and co-lead of the Urban Institute's Urban Riches theme  at the University of Sheffield. One of his many publications is Alpha City: How London Was Captured by the Super-Rich. Read More:Ukrainians designing the futureUkraine's strategic neutralizationMind the Heat GapThe Northern AgendaHosts: Tom Goodfellow is Professor of Urban Studies and International Development in the School of Geography and Planning at the University of Sheffield. His research focuses on the political economy of urban development and change in Africa, particularly the politics of urban land and transportation, conflicts around infrastructure and housing, and urban institutional change. Beth Perry is Professor of Urban Epistemics and Director of the Urban Institute at the University of Sheffield. Her research focuses on the relationships between urban expertise, governance and justice, underpinned by a commitment to co-producing collective intelligence across multiple scales to address complex urban challenges. She has worked in cities in Africa, Europe and the UK. If you want to know more about the research featured in this podcast, follow Sheffield Urbanism on LinkedIn, or bluesky, Instagram or visit www.sheffield.ac.uk/urban-institute Email feedback to: [email protected] Thanks to the Faculty of Social Science at the University of Sheffield for funding this podcast and the Creative Media Suite for recording facilities.

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