Green Urban Innovation? Lacks a racial & social justice lens
Prospect Magazine has just published "How Slums Can Save the Planet" http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/2010/01/how-slums-can-save-the-planet/.
What the article argues is that living in dense environments requires and inspires green innovations; from intense recycling to urban agriculture, like these folks in Nairobi growing food staples in sacks of soil
http://allafrica.com/stories/201002180809.html
Yet, this article fails miserably because it give scant attention to the reasons WHY folks are living in slums in the first place and why they must innovate - namely a lack of planning for urban migration, global trade that has exploited resources and ravaged local economies, non-existent poverty and food programs and inadequate land rights and legal protections, among other issues. In other words, romanticizing urban poverty and slum-life will NOT save the planet for the poor; only the rich will benefit. This type of analysis also runs the risk of accepting slums or informal settlements as necessary, rather than working to organize residents to demand better planning and treatment from governments and multilateral agencies. Unfortunately, another elite 'green' white guy living in Marin County telling the world how 'those slum dwellers' can help him.
What the article argues is that living in dense environments requires and inspires green innovations; from intense recycling to urban agriculture, like these folks in Nairobi growing food staples in sacks of soil
http://allafrica.com/stories/201002180809.html
Yet, this article fails miserably because it give scant attention to the reasons WHY folks are living in slums in the first place and why they must innovate - namely a lack of planning for urban migration, global trade that has exploited resources and ravaged local economies, non-existent poverty and food programs and inadequate land rights and legal protections, among other issues. In other words, romanticizing urban poverty and slum-life will NOT save the planet for the poor; only the rich will benefit. This type of analysis also runs the risk of accepting slums or informal settlements as necessary, rather than working to organize residents to demand better planning and treatment from governments and multilateral agencies. Unfortunately, another elite 'green' white guy living in Marin County telling the world how 'those slum dwellers' can help him.