Call for chapters: Inclusive cities

Inclusive cities in times of global urban transformations: Intersectionalities, infrastructures and sustainable development.

Editors: Prof. Ajay Bailey and Dr. Kei Otsuki, International Development Studies, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University.

In the face of current events such as the pandemic, climate crises, Black Lives Matter, and continually widespread urban evictions, how to envision cities to become more inclusive is increasingly an urgent question. International agendas such as the United Nations’ New Urban Agenda and 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development push forward the ideal of ‘making cities inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable (SDG11)’. However, they tend to result in more top-down physical infrastructural development, which create new dynamics of inclusion and exclusion. We need a set of alternative global urban strategies that address various forms of urban exclusion and survival and bottom-up experiences of sustainable development in order to establish how sustainable cities that prioritize social inclusion of vulnerable and excluded groups will look like. We propose here that the kind of sustainable urban development towards social inclusions is conceptually underpinned by agencies of urban dwellers in various urban settlements and neighborhoods, which scholars and activists are increasingly observing and analysing as everyday urban forms of socio-cultural practices and heterogeneous infrastructural constellations.

This book aims to collect scholarly and activist observations of the everyday urban forms that can potentially leadto reframe our thinking about global urban transformations for sustainable development. We envision to establish a platform where the critical urban scholarship and activities unpack the relationship between urban and social transformations and address questions of power relationships and political equality that underlie existing vulnerability, exclusion and marginalization of urban dwellers. We hope this book will lay a ground for theplatform to kickstart discussions on urban social justice and inclusion, not just within the academic circles, but more specifically in city planning, policy development and public debates that shape our common urban futures.

We therefore invite submissions from urban scholars and practitioners from a variety of disciplines, geographies, career-stages and viewpoints. We encourage co-production between academics, activists, media, non-profits and advocacy groups.

Format

Short chapters of 3000 words with 5-10 references. Empirical, engaging, original, reflective and thought provoking pieces that challenge ways of thinking around inclusive cities and sustainable development. The volume will have around 20-25 chapters.

Timeline