It’s interesting to ponder of how to start studying a city ? My view as an activist is to start with the migration from rural to the city. How the city exploits the labour without any care ( housing , health care, education , safe drinking water, etc. )
I have always loved that ambition for living conditions that the city symbolises. And equally been so jaded by its strained/corrupt promise! Maybe that’s why mayoral/local govt elections *can* feel so exciting — the promises are so tangible and feel so possible at the unit of the municipal rather than the nebulous/arbitrary national. In the meantime here’s to tree-counting!
I agree–– local elections are key to more participative societies. Hopefully, we get to feel more and more excited about our local little worlds. Have you been able to vote in your city elections? (Unfortunately, because of all the moving, I have missed them in the recent years).
Ohh great question, I've also done so much moving around! The last time I was present for a local election was in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland NZ in 2022. There was an absolute trailblazer candidate named Fa'anānā Efeso Collins from the most vibrant (and also most maligned) part of the city - he was an amazing Pacific leader, with free public transport pledges and what felt like a huge mandate. But it turned out to be a bubble and he lost to the much older white & right-wing candidate. The home-owning white/settler demographic still had the ballot box in a chokehold, and it was such a morale crush. But in a way it also gave grist for the mill, showing who is still protecting their property interests above all else, and what movement-building strides are needed if we want to trojan-horse popular interests like rent controls, transport and care access into the inherited colonial forms like local mayoralty.
I share your feeling of writing about X (space, movement, and coordination) while having a really clumsy relationship to it!! It's tragicomic. Also, curious if you've encountered Jameson's writing on cognitive mapping, which he takes from the architecture writer Kevin Lynch? He says something kinda sorta similar to your advice!
About how to define a city: I was quite amused to find out that, apparently, in the UK, a city is any place that the monarch has declared to be a city. So there are "cities" with fewer people than the Delhi Metro on a random Tuesday. XD
Yes - I did know that the monarch declares "cities" (or cities can petition the monarch for the status), but I think this is more a ceremonial status (as in, an area may be declared as a city but it may not automatically get a city council, and so on). And yes, haha, our cities are HUGE. Even London, which is probably the UK's most populous city, has a population of just around 8 - 9 million...
I've never actually thought about a city from this perspective, B. Did I mention how incredible your substack is? Please never stop writing.
Thank you so much, Shums! 🌹🌹🌹
It’s interesting to ponder of how to start studying a city ? My view as an activist is to start with the migration from rural to the city. How the city exploits the labour without any care ( housing , health care, education , safe drinking water, etc. )
M.Balaji
It's like that story about the elephant and the blind men. We can only sense parts of a city.
Yes! :) What is the story?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_men_and_an_elephant
I have always loved that ambition for living conditions that the city symbolises. And equally been so jaded by its strained/corrupt promise! Maybe that’s why mayoral/local govt elections *can* feel so exciting — the promises are so tangible and feel so possible at the unit of the municipal rather than the nebulous/arbitrary national. In the meantime here’s to tree-counting!
I agree–– local elections are key to more participative societies. Hopefully, we get to feel more and more excited about our local little worlds. Have you been able to vote in your city elections? (Unfortunately, because of all the moving, I have missed them in the recent years).
Ohh great question, I've also done so much moving around! The last time I was present for a local election was in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland NZ in 2022. There was an absolute trailblazer candidate named Fa'anānā Efeso Collins from the most vibrant (and also most maligned) part of the city - he was an amazing Pacific leader, with free public transport pledges and what felt like a huge mandate. But it turned out to be a bubble and he lost to the much older white & right-wing candidate. The home-owning white/settler demographic still had the ballot box in a chokehold, and it was such a morale crush. But in a way it also gave grist for the mill, showing who is still protecting their property interests above all else, and what movement-building strides are needed if we want to trojan-horse popular interests like rent controls, transport and care access into the inherited colonial forms like local mayoralty.
I share your feeling of writing about X (space, movement, and coordination) while having a really clumsy relationship to it!! It's tragicomic. Also, curious if you've encountered Jameson's writing on cognitive mapping, which he takes from the architecture writer Kevin Lynch? He says something kinda sorta similar to your advice!
About how to define a city: I was quite amused to find out that, apparently, in the UK, a city is any place that the monarch has declared to be a city. So there are "cities" with fewer people than the Delhi Metro on a random Tuesday. XD
(From Map Men, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Whqs8v1svyo)
Yes - I did know that the monarch declares "cities" (or cities can petition the monarch for the status), but I think this is more a ceremonial status (as in, an area may be declared as a city but it may not automatically get a city council, and so on). And yes, haha, our cities are HUGE. Even London, which is probably the UK's most populous city, has a population of just around 8 - 9 million...