Planning in the Global South

This study investigates the opportunities perceived by teachers in implementing indigenized mathematics education in Southern Province, Zambia. Indigenized education aims to integrate indigenous knowledge and cultural practices into mainstream curricula, enhancing educational relevance and inclusivity. Employing a sequential exploratory mixed-methods design, this research collected quantitative data from structured questionnaires distributed to 55 mathematics teachers and qualitative data from in-depth interviews with 15 teachers. The findings reveal multiple perceived benefits of indigenized mathematics education. Teachers reported that such an approach enhances student understanding and engagement by making mathematical concepts more relatable to students' cultural contexts. It also fosters a sense of pride and identity, bridges the gap between traditional knowledge and formal education, and strengthens school-community relationships. The study underscores the necessity of professional development programs focused on indigenous pedagogies, the creation of culturally relevant teaching materials, and the active involvement of indigenous communities in educational processes. The results highlight significant opportunities for improving mathematics education through the integration of indigenous knowledge. These insights provide a foundation for policy and practice enhancements aimed at creating a more inclusive and culturally responsive educational system. Future research should focus on expanding sample sizes, examining long-term impacts of professional development and curriculum reforms, conducting comparative studies, and exploring interdisciplinary approaches to further understand the benefits and challenges of indigenized education.

Los gobiernos subnacionales son esenciales para alcanzar los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS). Son el nivel de gobierno más cercano a la población, lo que significa que cuentan con grandes posibilidades de tomar acciones diarias de cambio que contribuyan a alcanzar las metas propuestas como parte de la Agenda de Desarrollo Post-2015. Figuras como Ban Ki-moon, Secretario General de las Naciones Unidas, Helen Clark, Administradora del Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo, y académicos de la talla de Jeffrey Sachs han reconocido la importancia de que los gobiernos subnacionales trabajen en la agenda internacional para lograr mejores condiciones de vida para todos.

Documentary cinema navigates the intersections of society, not merely to grasp the narratives beyond the headlines but to immerse itself in the moment and actively participate in the storytelling. By embracing a perspective from the Global South, it transforms the South from an abstract notion into a vivid and lived experience. This approach to documentary filmmaking underscores the importance of presence and authenticity, amplifying voices and shedding light on stories that are frequently overlooked or marginalized in mainstream media.

This study examines the emergence of autonomous teacher's trade unions in the British Southern/West Cameroons. The objective is to account for their creation and the important role they played in enhancing the teaching profession, education and social evolution of the territory. The paper demonstrates their contributions to social advancement and the impact of their activities. Using archival and secondary sources, the study reveals that the teacher's trade unions were well organised, conscious of their tasks and were determined in protecting the interest of the teachers. More to that, the unions actively participated in the social dynamics of the Southern Cameroons nations.

CHAPTER 9 CONCLUSION 9.0 INTRODUCTION The aim of the study was to expand the right to the city (RttC) debate from a spatial perspective so as to inform planners' modes of analysis. This was done through empirical research on the conflictive nexus between market-driven urban redevelopment and the street economy space in Maputo. The present Chapter 9, the Conclusion of the thesis, addresses research questions 6 and 7 as outlined in the overall Introduction (section 1.5, Chapter 1). The conclusion of the study is presented in three parts. The first, in Section 9.1, regards the case study conclusions. In subsection 9.1.1, a summary of findings of the case-study sites-SS1 (Polana Caniço/Julius Nyerere Av.) and SS2 (Xikhelene market-transport hub)-is presented utilising the concepts used in the analysis and originally outlined as a conceptual framework in Chapter 3. Subsections 9.1.2 and 9.1.3 address research question 6. First, in subsection 9.1.2, by discussing how the spatial and tactical adaptations enacted by street economy workers in the Xikhelene case and in the city more broadly (as analysed in Chapter 6) are used to circumvent or not their involuntary displacement and how such tactics link to these workers' claims considering recent events and the role of ASSOTSI. Secondly, in subsection 9.1.3, by discussing what these findings mean in the broader context of urban redevelopment in Maputo presented in Chapter 5. Here, the tactics, claims and recent spatial transformations of the street economy are put into perspective considering the concrete features of 'gray spacing' of the territory as part of a process of 'creative-destruction' underway through the advance of investor-driven redevelopments and the policy of 'resettlements'. Further, and still addressing research question 6, it is discussed why the predominant redevelopment pattern affects the low-income street economy, as well as why the city council's rationales of spatial redevelopment are at odds with the claims of street workers and what they bring to the table in the shaping of Maputo while showing what 'actual' rights to the city mean on the ground. Three implications for spatial planning and policy are outlined in subsection 9.1.4. CHAPTER 9 CONCLUSION. Urban Redevelopment and the Street Economy Space Nexus in Maputo. PhD thesis. Oxford Brookes University 2022. Vera Polido Baeta. 264 The second part, in Section 9.2, summarises the contribution to knowledge. Addressing research question 7, the transferability of the conceptual framework and limitations of the analysis are discussed in subsection 9.2.1, as well as the empirical, theoretical, and methodological contribution to knowledge and further areas of research in subsection 9.2.2. The chapter closes in Section 9.3 with a reflection on the fieldwork in Maputo, the aptness of the RttC call and vocabulary in that reality, and the motivations of the study.

A High-Level Government delegation from Bangladesh conducted a study tour to South Africa between the 8th - 18th of July 2013 on focusing on local government and urban initiatives.

The primary purpose of the study tour was to learn and engage with selected and relevant best practices from the South African experience regarding the post-apartheid local government system and innovative approaches to urban development initiatives at a policy and implementation level.

This report covers the key meetings and issues shared and learnt during this study tour to South Africa.

In recent years, International Political Economy (IPE) scholars have increasingly turned their attention to cities. However, their primary focus has been on the role of a select few global ‘cities’ that regulate global flows of capital, goods, and services. Nonetheless, a significant gap in the IPE literature pertains to the limited exploration of how processes of neoliberal globalization are impacting and regulating the low-income ‘informal’ housing sector in cities located in the global South. To address this gap in the existing IPE literature, this paper critically analyzes the processes of formation and demolition of informal housing settlements against the backdrop of the neoliberal regime of accumulation. Informal housing settlements have been extensively examined by critical geographers and scholars in the field of urban studies. What distinguishes this paper is its unique contribution to the literature on IPE, that is, it utilizes the political economy of informal housing settlements as an entry point to critically analyze social ontology and the inherent contradictions of the postcolonial state. The paper argues that the relationship between informal housing settlements and the postcolonial state can be better understood through the lens of the ‘institutional hybridity.’ This concept refers to the fusion of contradictory socio-economic and institutional impulses within the postcolonial state, which aims to manage social reproduction and capitalist accumulation simultaneously. The inherent tension between social reproduction and accumulation manifests in the informal housing settlements in the form of a dialectic of ‘benevolence-violence.’ On one hand, the postcolonial state attempts to appear ‘benevolent’ towards marginalized groups by ‘allowing’ them to establish informal housing settlements through a multi-layered network of clientelism. On the other hand, the postcolonial state resorts to violent displacement of marginalized groups as soon as they pose obstacles to real estate-led capitalist accumulation. Thus, the paper contends that IPE scholars should carefully consider the political economy of informal housing settlements, as it provides captivating insights into the mechanisms through which the postcolonial state becomes subject to regulation and is pulled in different directions by the socio-economic forces of neoliberal globalization.

The Urban Book Series Aims and Scope The Urban Book Series is a resource for urban studies and geography research worldwide. It provides a unique and innovative resource for the latest developments in the field, nurturing a comprehensive and encompassing publication venue for urban studies, urban geography, planning and regional development. The series publishes peer-reviewed volumes related to urbanization, sustainability, urban environments, sustainable urbanism, governance, globalization, urban and sustainable development, spatial and area studies, urban management, urban infrastructure, urban dynamics, green cities and urban landscapes. It also invites research which documents urbanization processes and urban dynamics on a national, regional and local level, welcoming case studies, as well as comparative and applied research. The series will appeal to urbanists, geographers, planners, engineers, architects, policy makers, and to all of those interested in a wide-ranging overview of contemporary urban studies and innovations in the field. It accepts monographs, edited volumes and textbooks.

I am writing this column in Marrakesh, Morocco where I am participating in the 20th World Congress of Dynamic Psychiatry, which took place from April 16-20th, 2024, sponsored by the World and the Moroccan Associations of Dynamic Psychiatry. And isn’t that a story in itself? Psychoanalysis and psychodynamic psychiatry once so powerfully present in the USA and the Global North are now being rescued and reinvigorated beyond their cloistered institutes by the Global South in psychiatric and psychological practices as well as in academic departments.

The rapid expansion of Addis Ababa into peri-urban areas has resulted in detrimental effect such as the loss of agricultural land, forest degradation, and worsened livelihoods. With a significant influx of people from both Addis Ababa and its rural areas, the Oromia Special Zone surrounding Finfinnee has experienced rapid urban growth. This phenomenon exemplifies how areas can quickly expand from the city center to the outskirts, resulting in land grabbing and peri-urbanization. Unfortunately, the city's governance system makes land expropriation decisions based on immediate needs, without considering the current capacity and demographic dynamics. Empirical data shows that these plans have not effectively managed the increasing urbanization. To achieve sustainable urban development, it is crucial to understand population growth rates and the expansion of urban areas. Therefore, a comprehensive study aims to investigate the continuous urban growth in Addis Ababa and its surrounding towns. The most effective approach to address conflicts and promote sustainable development involves regional planning, good governance, coordinated economic development, environmental preservation, and efficient utilization of urban land. By adopting an Ethiopian mindset and acting at the regional level, this strategy can foster social equity, economic stability, and environmental viability.

El desafío cada vez más apremiante de impulsar un modelo de producción y consumo más sostenible e inclusivo, en un contexto internacional de creciente complejidad, ha puesto de manifiesto la necesidad de políticas productivas más articuladas y eficaces. Para alcanzar estos resultados, además de garantizar la movilización de recursos adecuados, es preciso potenciar las capacidades de las instituciones que participan en la formulación, implementación y gobernanza de estas políticas. Un actor clave en estos procesos son los gobiernos intermedios. Su función de articulación de los actores que operan en sus territorios y de vinculación, colaboración y diálogo con las entidades nacionales es imprescindible. Bajo esta perspectiva, la presente guía se propone como una herramienta que oriente y respalde el trabajo de los profesionales de los gobiernos intermedios que tienen la responsabilidad de diseñar e implementar programas de desarrollo productivo para su territorio.

This research paper delves into the imperative of harmonizing educational objectives within the Global South with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development underscores the pivotal role of education in realizing global sustainability, particularly stressing Target 4.7. Despite advancements in monitoring SDG progress, persistent challenges hinder human advancement, particularly within education. This study critically examines the viability and effectiveness of crafting educational curricula for the Global South that integrate sustainable methodologies into existing systems. Furthermore, it scrutinizes significant impediments hindering the alignment of education with SDGs and provides recommendations for stakeholders, employing a meticulous approach encompassing critical content analysis and an extensive literature review. Through a thorough analysis of peer-reviewed literature, policy documents, and pertinent articles from diverse sources, complemented by data triangulation to enhance reliability, this study elucidates that customizing educational curricula for the Global South is achievable and imperative. Fostering environmental consciousness and action necessitates seamlessly integrating sustainable practices and educational principles into prevailing frameworks. However, challenges such as infrastructural inadequacies and cultural heterogeneity mandate strategic interventions. Collaborative efforts among stakeholders, including governments, educational institutions, international organizations, educators, and communities, are imperative to propel sustainable development through education. Recommendations span from curriculum adaptations and resolution of infrastructural deficiencies to fostering respect for cultural diversity and implementing robust monitoring and evaluation mechanisms. Ultimately, this study enriches stakeholders with knowledge essential for their endeavor toward societal progression and sustainable development in the Global South.

The Cartesian world view established a model of development for western cities that led to a number of environmental, social, and economic consequences. In order to overcome these challenges, a reform in current thinking is necessary. Thus, this article aims to intertwine the concepts of complexity of Edgard Morin and the concepts of landscape proposed by Jean Marc-Besse in order to better understand how the interaction of these two authors can help guide city planning with a focus on sustainability. As a case study, we used the municipality of Rio Claro-SP. The method used was a comparative study of the main works by the authors, as well as an analysis of the process of planning ecological corridors in the chosen municipality, following the steps proposed by Besse. As a result, it was observed that the interaction between landscape and complex thinking is fundamental for creating a far-reaching knowledge network. In the search for sustainability, the dialogic method can be an impor...

The increase in informal settlements has aroused the concern of many professionals and governments seeking to understand the emergence and expansion of these dwellings, as they currently coexist and form an integral part of our cities, especially in less developed countries, where high rates of urban expansion are often associated with the emergence of informal settlements. As a consequence, the resistance and proliferation of these settlements have become a phenomenon, in which state intervention has failed to curb their growth. This article seeks to identify those recurrent patterns that allow the conformation, evolution and consolidation of informal settlements based on evidence from the Pomachaca human settlement in the Andean city of Tarma. The methodology developed is based on a structured visual survey analyzing 224 lots, 128 informal and 96 formal. As a result, in the first place, the spatial logic to build their houses in the territory is recognized, taking into account the urban circumstances. Secondly, the orders that adapt informal dwellings in relation to their direct formal environment or to the informal user's own spatial conceptions are identified and finally 3 adaptations are determined: (i) the combination of natural environment and building, (ii) the north-south location along the street and (iii) the blend of construction materials according to the user's economy. Therefore, the research concludes that informal settlements prove to be a valuable form of urban development as they employ spatial practices and improvements that contribute to the informal settlement becoming a dynamic and discrete entity, in a state of continuous change with its own spatial characteristics.

El cuadro de crisis en cascada que atraviesa la región y la volatilidad del contexto mundial exigen potenciar los procesos de planificación de los países y el ejercicio de una gobernanza anticipatoria que permita determinar y modelar los futuros posibles y responder a las transformaciones del entorno.

El presente documento busca promover una reflexión en torno a la prospectiva para el desarrollo y la importancia de la deliberación ciudadana en la apropiación de los escenarios de futuro. Para ello, se toman como base las formas que han adoptado los ejercicios prospectivos en la región, conducidos por el Estado en las distintas escalas del territorio, y sus características y enfoques, así como las condiciones propicias y los obstáculos para su institucionalización en el aparato estatal.

El documento también tiene como finalidad contribuir, como punto de partida, a la definición de rutas metodológicas como cursos de acción flexibles en los ejercicios de visión colectiva de futuro, y de políticas y programas que identifiquen nuevas oportunidades de desarrollo, así como a la ampliación de la institucionalización de la prospectiva en el aparato público.

This paper reflects on the ongoing debate between theory and practice in planning, using the example of South Africa. Based on survey responses, it discusses how planning education in South Africa is perceived to prepare students for practice. While we acknowledge that the majority of respondents view their planning education positively, the results reveal challenges regarding the practical application of theory, especially in the case of land-use management. We then respond to calls for contextualised practices of knowing, emphasising the 'local' in planning education so that theory and practice can be combined across contexts.

The potential of ICT to enable micro-entrepreneurship in peripheral and resource-scarce countries has been well documented in contexts, such as agribusiness, fisheries and manufacturing. There has been, however, a paucity of research in ICT's potential to support tourism micro-entrepreneurship. While tourism has often been proposed as a mechanism for sustainability in developing countries, most host communities remain relegated to the role of passive "tourees" who fail to benefit from the economic capital often dominated by Western economies. Guided by design science theory, this work was informed by fieldwork conducted in South Africa in January and February 2011 which aimed at designing and testing an information technology artifact. Using action design research principles, we included the perspectives of individuals from rural communities and with high-level stakeholders in tourism planning and telecommunications corporations. Early findings suggest that mobile telephones and applications play a significant role in SME and potential entrepreneurship development and sustainability. The findings, herein, also guided the development of an information technology artifact, START-Net, to support community-based tourism entrepreneurship in rural South Africa.

This paper interrogates the existing paradigm of housing in Nigeria and how they have helped to form and shape the multiplicity of housing programmes experimented in the country. The paper questions the efficacy of these government housing programmes in view of the rising anxiety and crises of shelterlessness among the teeming Nigerian population. The paper also attempts to provide healthy debate on the need to reconceptualise housing as essential social infrastructure in Nigeria, and how macro-economic investment in housing could change the narrative. The paper has established the fact that direct sectoral financing will help vulnerable families achieve self-sufficiency and improve life outcomes while significantly decreasing costs, given the numbers. It also confirmed that the commitment of substantial Federal investment in the mechanism of a functional National Housing Trust Fund would undoubtedly bring immeasurable benefits in the whole value chain. The paper concludes that the twin elements of a rigorous, costed business case in social housing as well as the human dimension of housing as an infrastructure of care are sufficient for governments in Nigeria to place it on a par with other critical development sectors.

For the large population living in Nairobi’s informal settlements, the long-term effects of Covid-19 pose a threat to livelihoods, health, and wellbeing. For those working in the informal sector, who are the lifeblood of the city, livelihoods have been severely supressed by Covid-19 restrictions such as curfews, pushing many into further poverty. This article draws on community data, meetings, and authors’ observations as community organisers, to explore the challenges posed by existing government responses from a community development perspective. We found that poor accountability structures and targeted income support only for the ‘most vulnerable’ exacerbates tensions, mistrust, and insecurity among already vulnerable communities. We draw on a rapid desk review of existing literature to argue that community-led enumeration to validate entitlement claims, improved accountability for distribution, and widening income support is required to build solidarity and improve the future re...

This chapter situates the South African policy discourse within global
theoretical concerns regarding Surveillance Capitalism (Zuboff. The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power. New  York: PublicAffairs, Perseus Book, a subsidiary of Hachette Book Group, 2019) and contemporary manifestations of neo-liberalism. It posits that the commons be understood as part of indigenous systems of spatial production, viewed as an ongoing and relational process in a geography of external power dynamics,
and that power/capital will seek divisive tactics that obscure its operations. Analyzing South African precedents it recommends working from a place of knowledge, inclusionary practices and the relationship between bottom-up organization, while critically testing these operations against the Weberian state. It calls for deep solidarity and practices that go beyond charity or a welfare-based approach in a “politics of
compassion” which evoke the literal meaning of the word to suffer with. It casts suspicion on practices of representation and the consolidation of heterogeneous spatial rights and practices, and advocates for openness

Popularly referred to as an Asian Tiger, planning for economic development has been a significant feature in the Malaysian planning system. This reflected the historical junctures that transform Malaysia economy from agricultural potential to industrial capabilities. The rapid industrialisation that can be linked to neoliberal ideology has caused people to migrate from rural to urban area that echoed the emergence of urban settlements. However, this transformation has produced social and environmental instability, as a result of capital accumulation. Accordingly, this study conducted in-depth interviews and documents analysis, with the objective to develop understanding of how neoliberal globalisation rationalises the emergence of urban settlements in Malaysia through its policies and planning practice. The Nvivo10 was used to define categories and synthesise the ideas from the interview data and planning policy documents. This paper is expected to contribute to deepening knowledge ...

Este artículo se formula a partir de la pregunta por el escaso éxito de las redes Sur-Sur, principalmente con relación al desinterés en los ecosistemas intelectivos del Sur respecto de los otros "sures", además de varios otros factores. Se realiza una breve enumeración de casos con éxito escaso y de algunas causas que han impedido la ampliación y la permanencia de estas iniciativas. Se presenta un caso considerado exitoso, como contrapunto, la ASETT o EATWOT. Como conclusión se hacen reflexiones y recomendaciones para informar nuevos intentos de estructuración de encuentros y redes intelectuales Sur-Sur.

It is well researched that peri urban interface of Indian metropolitan cities are experiencing a major transformation. Transformations of peri-urban interface are results of different factors including development of transit road at peri urban interface. Peri-urban interface of Kolkata metropolitan area is facing a major challenge with respect to planning and governance. This paper presented a case study and highlighted transformation of peri-urban interface through development of logistics hub along the transits. Old planning strategies failed to prevent haphazard growth in the area. So the article argues for new policies and strategies to manage such peri-urban interface.
Keywords: Peri-urban interface, logistics hub,
urban growth, metropolitan area

The paper aims to reveal the politics of urban governance and the associated impact on the lives of disenfranchised migrants. It critically explores the urban governance structure and the nature of practices involved in the cycle of settlement, eviction, resistance and resettlement. The case of Nonadanga, located at the urban margin of Kolkata, India, was explored for this purpose. An ethnographic methodology comprising observation, semi-structured interviews and oral history was adopted for the research. Twelve squatter dwellers and four experts working in Nonadanga and Kolkata were interviewed for this purpose. A three-step data analysis comprising a narrative approach, thematic network analysis and validation was adopted. A critical review of inclusive practices, together with ethnographic survey findings, demonstrates that migrants live in a condition the paper calls “partial rights”, which is a manifestation of the dialectics of inclusiveness practiced by the urban governance s...

Popularly referred to as an Asian Tiger, planning for economic development has been a significant feature in the Malaysian planning system. This reflected the historical junctures that transform Malaysia economy from agricultural potential to industrial capabilities. The rapid industrialisation that can be linked to neoliberal ideology has caused people to migrate from rural to urban area that echoed the emergence of urban settlements. However, this transformation has produced social and environmental instability, as a result of capital accumulation. Accordingly, this study conducted in-depth interviews and documents analysis, with the objective to develop understanding of how neoliberal globalisation rationalises the emergence of urban settlements in Malaysia through its policies and planning practice. The Nvivo10 was used to define categories and synthesise the ideas from the interview data and planning policy documents. This paper is expected to contribute to deepening knowledge ...

Este escrito, parte de reconocer la importancia de la planificación como forma de intervención del Estado para
la consecución de los fines y propósitos generales, sin embargo, muestra como los procesos e instrumentos
de planificación establecidos, han sido mal concebidos en origen y se imponen hoy de manera excesiva, si
se toma en cuenta la realidad de la mayoría de municipios de Colombia. Lo anterior ha conducido a visiones
de desarrollo municipal irreales, fallidas y erradas en la mayoría de casos; visiones que se formulan solo
con el propósito de cumplir con requerimientos legales y evitar problemas con los organismos de control.

This article adopts the “Conflicting Rationalities” perspective (Watson, 2003), which focuses on dialogue, contradictions and gaps between the state and its excluded communities, in the process of shaping space. We use  this perspective, to point at the ways in which the city space in East Jerusalem is formed through an interaction between “conflicting rationalities”: on the one hand, the northwestern modernist logic that forms the basis for institutional urban planning and governmental decision-making processes; on the other hand, the principles that guides spatial arrangements in the middle-eastern Islamic-Arab city, which form one kind of southeastern rationality; and the reaction of the local community to both rationales. The article examines the interaction between the conflicting rationalities by focusing on the public space of Abu-Tor neighborhood, also known by its Palestinian residents as Al-Thuri.
Through a series of spatial mappings and interviews with the neighborhood’s residents, we analyze the gaps between the planning rationality, based on a rigid dichotomy that sharply separates the “private” from the “public,” and the Arab-Islamic rationality that moves in between the private and the public. In response to the gaps and restrictions imposed by these rationalities, the local community creates a hierarchy of intermediate states through separation spaces and partnership spaces. These intermediate spaces constitute a special foundation for daily life in the neighborhood, which we call “a partition network” and which is based on partition and distribution – spatial partnership along with separation, and meet the residents’ needs, albeit partially. This examination through both spatial rationalities adds a new dimension to the accepted view that analyzes the socio-spatial occurrences in East Jerusalem mainly in terms of control versus resistance. This understanding, as well as the analysis of gaps and conflicts between them, constitute, in our view, a basis for the advancement of a more fertile dialogue and a more rational and accepted development of space in Eastern Jerusalem. Moreover, the study findings, which demonstrate the consistency of traditional spatial organization patterns, are surprising considering the social structure of the neighborhood, which is not based on distribution according to the extended family principle, in view of the accelerated urbanization processes and despite the continued struggle against Jewish sovereignty in the city.

Over the past 20 years, changes in urban planning and its translation into new instruments for urban projects and management have been observed in numerous cities throughout the world. The approaches resulting from this transformation process are often labelled ‘innovative’. It could be assumed that the character of this innovation derives from a critical stance on previous, more traditional approaches to urban problems. However, over and above the dilemma of differentiating between traditional and new, which has played a constant role in the transformation in urban planning, since the late 20th century innovation has appeared to be adjusting to a need to link heterogeneous players, diverse scales, and multiple dimensions. This contribution examines the main perspectives associated with these issues, reviewing some of the topics that have arisen as problems in urban planning over the past decade. It should be noted that these reflections do not constitute a presentation of the state...

The growth of irregular settlements in Ciudad Juarez has largely contributed to the expansion of the city, where informal city expansion was later transformed to regular urbanization. The reason for this is not far-reaching as the agglomeration of migrants into the city frequently redefined its growth. Simultaneously, the economic significance of the city in the global capital process has further made it a destination point for the engagement of labour from the hinterland of Mexico to central and southern America. This paper investigates the historical context of the emergence of the lived experience amidst poverty and the social exclusion process in Colonia Mexico 68, a settlement to the west of the city of Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico, a vicinity surrounded by multinationals otherwise known as Maquiladoras. The inhabitants are known to be poor and live in poverty and exclusion. The investigation is based on ethnographic research using the Bristol Social Exclusion Model. (BSEM)...

This chapter tells the story of two buildings—the modernist headquarters of the International Rice Research Institute, the first large collaboration between the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations, and the Coconut Palace, Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos’s opulent state guest house touted to be built almost entirely out of coconuts. These buildings are examined relative to the changing objectives of the Philippines’ evolving postwar agricultural development policies. In the early ’70s, following Ferdinand Marcos’s declaration of martial law, the nation’s focus on subsistence crops—mainly rice—was abruptly shifted toward the development of cash crops—most importantly the coconut. This change, sponsored and engineered by the Philippines’ creditors, most notably the World Bank, encouraged Marcos to turn away from the immediate needs of Filipinos in order to return “external balance” to the Philippine economy. While Philippine politicians used an identification with the IRRI to link themselves to a progressive, international, and science-driven modernism, the Coconut Palace would simultaneously
emphasize the coconut’s commodity value and the commodity value of national identity as such.

Connecting urban geopolitics with critical geopolitics, this article highlights the urban geopolitical significance of learning from the European Southeast. Urban geopolitics has often made reference to the European Southeast in discussions of urban warfare, conflict and contestation. In particular, Sarajevo and discussions of urbicide played a seminal role in understanding the contemporary relationship between conflict and the built environment. Beyond this attention to the 1990s wars, this article shows that contemporary urban transformations in the region reflect novel processes and alignments that can contribute to the larger project of rethinking urban geopolitics: allegedly ‘contested’ and ‘ordinary’ cities in the region reflect today a reshaping of practices of material and immaterial urban geopolitics highlighting transnational and global entanglements beyond the East-West and North-South conceptual and geopolitical divides. By employing a critical geopolitical analysis of the urban, the article discusses performative acts of power in urban space and the reconfiguration of the built environment in two cities in the region as a nexus of geopolitical processes, well beyond the wars of the 1990s: Sarajevo, arguably a divided city in a contested state, and Belgrade, an ‘ordinary’ capital city of a nation-state, albeit uncontested capital of a country with contested territories. The article highlights the emergence of newer relationships beyond the East-West divide, particularly with the Middle East, specifically articulated through urban space reconfigurations.  It shows how the European South-East reflects that the urban geopolitical goes beyond the usual lens of ‘contested’ urban space to ‘ordinary’ cities, which become arenas of multi-scalar geopolitics.

'Living labs' originate from an R&D environment, and intend to innovate commodities by experience-based knowledge, with a direct involvement of users. Meanwhile, the living labs approach has been shifting into a wider range of applications, and has also ended up in the toolbox of actor-and action-oriented planners. The approach is (implicitly) promoted as a new and better way of combining capacities of different stakeholders by exploring and experimenting in realworld situations. In this paper, we attempt to critically discuss the use of the living lab approach. The first section explores the potential thereof for planning issues: How univocal is the concept of Living Labs? How much do different interpretations and practices of Living Labs resemble in terms of actors involved, actions stimulated, processes promoted and criteria for good practices accepted? The exploration is based on the experience of two experimental living labs, which are compared with a range of international examples. The second section turns to a series of alternative approaches in spatial planning in Flanders: How do the aims and means of these collaborative learning experiences differ? What is the role of users and how important is experimentation? What is the innovative contribution to planning (if any)? How do the practices deal with path dependencies and uncertainties in complex multi-actor settings? We will answer these questions based on research seminars on 'collective learning', which are organized for the Policy Research Center Spatial Planning in Flanders, as a part of a work-package which focusses on methodologies for future explorations.

Housing has been one of the defining issues of our times. Enabling strategies were implemented to address the housing challenges over the past decade with limited success. In recent years, there has been a resurgence of government-led large-scale programmes to provide low-income housing. New networks of collaborations have created new rules and shifted boundaries to achieve scale. In India, Pradhanmantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) aims to build 20 million new units by 2022. Likewise in Brazil, Minha Casa Minha Vida (MCMV) was launched to deliver millions of affordable homes. This paper argues that the emergence of state-led housing means the value of enabling has not been supplanted but supplemented, as the shift does not herald the end of enabling strategy but a renewed commitment to the expansion of enabling principles where the state is an active agent. The state-led housing development is creating and formalising new areas of market engagement, and is far less radical and transformative than is assumed. State housing programmes such as MCMV and PMAY are inevitability highly profitable transactions, advantageous to the economy and housing markets and come at a point when profiteering and resource-extracting neoliberalism is at its zenith.

The making of a place is an important theoretical issue in occidental architecture, especially when it addresses the creation of places meant for communities. Architects working in that field are confronted with a number of issues. They come from the existence of legal and administrative norms, and from the very status of the architect in the western world from his/her ambiguous position between state, power and society. These issues, explicitly or not, limit the field of his/her practice. Squatter settlements in the developing world are built in totally different circumstances. Created under illegal conditions, they provide us with an opportunity to observe the creation of new environments located outside of our legal and ideological spheres. Comparing the way they appear with the way places are created in our societies can allow us to locate and to explore the boundaries of our field of action, and to investigate unexpected ways of making new collective places. This thesis is an e...

we draw courage from the historic victory of enslaved Black workers in the Saint-Domingue colony and the founding of haiti. we reflect on the fight of the Chilean people to be rid of a dictatorship-era Constitution. We learn from the ancestral wisdom of indigenous peoples fighting to defend the living earth. we are witness to the cries of a people facing genocide via presidential denialism in Brazil. and we fight for unity across language and every other division keeping our class from sharing the world's abundance.

'Living labs' originate from an R&D environment, and intend to innovate commodities by experience-based knowledge, with a direct involvement of users. Meanwhile, the living labs approach has been shifting into a wider range of applications, and has also ended up in the toolbox of actor-and action-oriented planners. The approach is (implicitly) promoted as a new and better way of combining capacities of different stakeholders by exploring and experimenting in realworld situations. In this paper, we attempt to critically discuss the use of the living lab approach. The first section explores the potential thereof for planning issues: How univocal is the concept of Living Labs? How much do different interpretations and practices of Living Labs resemble in terms of actors involved, actions stimulated, processes promoted and criteria for good practices accepted? The exploration is based on the experience of two experimental living labs, which are compared with a range of international examples. The second section turns to a series of alternative approaches in spatial planning in Flanders: How do the aims and means of these collaborative learning experiences differ? What is the role of users and how important is experimentation? What is the innovative contribution to planning (if any)? How do the practices deal with path dependencies and uncertainties in complex multi-actor settings? We will answer these questions based on research seminars on 'collective learning', which are organized for the Policy Research Center Spatial Planning in Flanders, as a part of a work-package which focusses on methodologies for future explorations.

Introducción El objetivo de esta ponencia es compartir los avances y retos actuales para la institucionalización de la Agenda 2030 en el estado de Baja California. Parte de las siguientes interrogantes, ¿cuáles son las acciones qué han promovido las autoridades federales y subnacionales tomadoras de decisiones para institucionalizar la Agenda 2030 en la entidad?, ¿cuál es el papel de la cooperación internacional para promover la institucionalización de la Agenda 2030 en Baja California?

¿Planificar de manera inflexible, en un enjambre de incertidumbres? 2022 Miguel Gutiérrez Saxe Marco. La pandemia originada por el COVID-19 causa estragos generales en el mundo, también genera profundas incertidumbres, respuestas institucionales y sustantivas un tanto novedosas, no sin fiascos y vacilaciones. Irrumpe y perturba. En Costa Rica tiene impactos económicos, sociales y políticos de magnitud sin precedentes en 40 años. Sin que la pandemia termine, la guerra en Ucrania, con sus restricciones al comercio y sanciones a Rusia, genera oleadas de profundas implicaciones de todo tipo, escasez, baja movilidad de productos, inflación, crecimiento a la baja y tasas de interés crecientes, impactos en la capacidad adquisitiva y mayores niveles de pobreza, entre otras. Un verdadero enjambre de incertidumbres amenaza al mundo y a este nuestro pequeño país que no puede siquiera influir en muchos de los factores determinantes de la situación.