What it means to live in a city of equals
City of Equals by Jonathan Wolff and Avner de-Shalit examines what it means for one citizen of a city to feel equal to another, despite different experiences and…
Tag: Urban Studies
Why architecture and urban space are always political
The latest volume of the Routledge Handbook of Architecture, Urban Space and Politics edited by Nikolina Bobic and Farzaneh Haghighi explores the socio-political nature of architecture and urban…
How gender, labour and tech intersect in Bangalore’s startup culture
Hemangini Gupta‘s Experimental Times explores the gendered dynamics of startup capitalism in Bangalore, offering a rich ethnographic study of labour, urban space, and entrepreneurship. Tanushree…
Is it time to rethink participatory democracy under urban capitalism?
Markus Holdo’s Participatory Spaces Under Urban Capitalism examines how citizens engage with and leverage power through participatory institutions in capitalist societies. The book is meticulously res…
Suburbanisation and the making of the African middle class
Claire Mercer‘s The Suburban Frontier examines African suburbanisation and the emergence of middle-class culture through a case study of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Drawing on ethnographic data col…
Migrants and Machine Politics – review
In Migrants and Machine Politics, Adam Michael Auerbach and Tariq Thachil examine how India’s urban poor navigate and shape political networks to secure representation and accountability within …
Long Live Queer Nightlife: How the Closing of Gay Bars Sparked a Revolution – review
In Long Live Queer Nightlife, Amin Ghaziani charts the transformation of LGBTQ+ nightlife in recent decades amid venue closures and gentrification, focusing on London. Through a blend of personal anec…
Knightscope Five (NYPD Robot)
by Ashley Prather – “Well, kill me now ’cause I let you down/I swear one day I’m gonna leave this town” ‘New York City Cops’ by The Strokes…
NEW article on Urban Reconstruction in Xinjiang by Madlen Kobi
This article investigates the relatively little explored urban development in China’s Northwestern Uyghur homeland of XUAR (Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region). Based on 12 months of ethnographic field…
NEW article on thermal practices to cope with summer heat in Chongqing by Madlen Kobi
Until the 1990s and the spread of air-conditioning, cooling down during the hot, humid, and windless summers in the city of Chongqing (Southwest China) was mainly practiced outdoors:…
Book Review: Citizen Designs: City-making and Democracy in Northeastern Thailand by Eli Elinoff
In Citizen Designs: City-making and Democracy in Northeastern Thailand, Eli Elinoff explores citizenship struggles and the political engagement of residents living in Northeastern Thailand. Unlike tra…
Book Review: Violent Utopia: Dispossession and Black Restoration in Tulsa by Jovan Scott Lewis
In Violent Utopia: Dispossession and Black Restoration in Tulsa, Jovan Scott Lewis explores the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre in the city’s Greenwood neighbourhood (known colloquially as ‘Black…
Book Review: They Eat Our Sweat: Transport Labor, Corruption, and Everyday Survival in Urban Nigeria by Daniel E. Agbiboa
In They Eat Our Sweat: Transport Labor, Corruption, and Everyday Survival in Urban Nigeria, Daniel E. Agbiboa challenges simplistic understandings of corruption by offering a captivating study of Lago…
New Book Review: Citizenship, Democracy, and Belonging in Suburban Britain: Making the Local by David Jeevendrampillai
In Citizenship, Democracy, and Belonging in Suburban Britain: Making the Local – available open access from UCL Press – David Jeevendrampillai explores how inclusiveness and citizen participation can …
Book Review: The Migrant’s Paradox: Street Livelihoods and Marginal Citizenship in Britain by Suzanne Hall
In The Migrant’s Paradox: Street Livelihoods and Marginal Citizenship in Britain, Suzanne M. Hall draws on interviews with migrant shopkeepers in five UK cities to explore the formation of street…
Book Review: The Creative Underclass: Youth, Race and the Gentrifying City by Tyler Denmead
In The Creative Underclass: Youth, Race and the Gentrifying City, Tyler Denmead reflects on his role in founding New Urban Arts, an arts and humanities programme primarily for young people…
Book Review: How Ten Global Cities Take On Homelessness: Innovations That Work by Linda Gibbs, Jay Bainbridge, Muzzy Rosenblatt and Tamiru Mammo
In How Ten Global Cities Take On Homelessness: Innovations That Work, Linda Gibbs, Jay Bainbridge, Muzzy Rosenblatt and Tamiru Mammo explore some of the key challenges faced by urban…
Book Review: Ultra: The Underworld of Italian Football by Tobias Jones
In Ultra: The Underworld of Italian Football, Tobias Jones immerses himself in the culture of Italian football ultras, exploring the rituals of different ultra groups, their infamous links…
Book Review: Nairobi in the Making: Landscapes of Time and Urban Belonging by Constance Smith
In Nairobi in the Making: Landscapes of Time and Urban Belonging, Constance Smith explores how the residents of Nairobi’s Kaloleni estate interact with materials and structures from the…
Book Review: The City by Robert E. Park and Ernest W. Burgess
Andrew Karvonen revisits the classic urban studies book The City by Robert E. Park and Ernest W. Burgess, originally published in 1925, and argues that contemporary scholars can…
Book Review: The Sage Handbook of the 21st Century City edited by Suzanne Hall and Ricky Burdett
In The SAGE Handbook of the 21st Century City, Suzanne Hall and Ricky Burdett bring together contributors to explore the conditions that have emerged or intensified since the…
Book Review: Suburban Planet: Making the World Urban from the Outside In by Roger Keil
Suburban Planet: Making the World Urban from the Outside In, authored by Roger Keil, emerges out of an eight-year research programme on global suburbanisms to explore the diversity…
LSE Festival Beveridge 2.0 Reading List: 7 Recommended Reads on Housing and Urban Development
Image Credit: Mumbai, India, 2010 (Sunghwan Yoon CC BY SA 2.0) 75 years after the publication of the Beveridge report, LSE Festival Beveridge 2.0 (Mon 19 Feb – Sat 24 Feb…
Interview: Sonic Rupture by Jordan Lacey
Sonic Rupture: A Practice-led Approach to Urban Soundscape Design (Bloomsbury 2016) by Jordan Lacey offers a practice-led alternative approach to urban soundscape design. Rather than understanding the…