Abstract
I. MISSION STATEMENT
II. THEMES FOR FUTURE ISSUES
III. DISCOUNTED PRICES AND ELECTRONIC ACCESS TO E&U
IV. SISTER JOURNALS
V. BLOGS
VI. SOCIAL MEDIA
VII. EMAIL NEWSLETTER
VIII. ENGAGING READERS IN BOOK NOTES
I. Mission Statement
Environment and Urbanization (E&U) seeks to advance a more socially just and environmentally sustainable urban world through the provision of knowledge. Our focus is the Global South, where an estimated one in three of the urban population lives in informal settlements and where more than half work within the informal economy. UN projections suggest that almost all the world’s growth in population in the next few decades will be in urban centres in the Global South.
Contributors to E&U include those engaging with critical social science to add theoretical and conceptual insights, those reporting innovative empirical findings that augment our understanding of context and solutions (and their significance for theories and concepts), and those able to share the voices of activist representative groups and movements that are rarely seen in the scholarly literature. In other words, our journal aims both to advance social justice and be the change we strive for by encouraging contributions that share the perspectives of disadvantaged and marginalised groups.
E&U particularly encourages researchers, NGO staff, professionals and activists in Africa, Asia and Latin America to write about their work, present their ideas and debate issues. We promote the work of French, Spanish and Portuguese-speaking authors by arranging for the translation of their work into English.
Papers commonly deal with poverty, inequality, and the power relations underpinning both disadvantage and transformation. Papers also report on trends, policies, programmes and practices related to urbanisation, urban development and urban environments. We are concerned with processes of progressive change, while recognising that these are contested, and that change is neither uni-linear nor necessarily progressive. Urbanisation processes are often poorly understood and papers that contribute insights supporting an accurate understanding of grounded realities are important to us. We recognise that sustainable development, including needed responses to climate change, is critical to both current and future populations, and that ecosystems have a critical role in the wellbeing of urban populations and the resilience of their cities. We encourage contributions related to such themes.
II. Themes for Future Issues
With three-quarters of cities now more unequal than in 1996, urban inequality has increasingly been recognised as a key global challenge (UN-Habitat). More recently, inequalities have been heightened by phenomena such as the climate emergency, forced migrations and COVID-19. Growing concern for national and global inequalities has been accompanied by an acknowledgement of the multidimensional aspects of inequality that are particularly severe in urban areas. Spatial, political, economic and social disadvantage combines to deny individuals and groups their right to safe and meaningful life. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the UN-Habitat New Urban Agenda recognise that addressing growing inequality has to be a priority for local and national governments, and these global agendas are working alongside local efforts to support urban transformation.
While reducing inequalities has been increasingly acknowledged as a global challenge shaped by structural conditions, local action is indispensable to tackle the territorial manifestations and many of the underlying causes of inequities. Global phenomena such as the climate emergency, the COVID-19 pandemic, increased housing insecurity and the precarisation of working conditions have deepened existing inequalities and created new ones, which bring challenges that are locally experienced. Drawing on the work of the KNOW programme, this special issue of Environment and Urbanization will include papers that advance our understanding of inequality and how it can be addressed at different scales.
We are looking for academic articles and “field notes” that present original research, practices, experiences, or theoretical reflections about the construction of pathways towards urban equality, discussing the multi-scalar challenges of addressing urban inequalities. In doing so, we encourage an approach to urban equality that is a multidimensional experience for urban dwellers, which requires a combination of equitable distribution, reciprocal recognition, parity political participation, and solidarity and care. This definition builds upon seminal works on social justice by Nancy Fraser (1995) and Iris Marion Young (1990), as well as research that has mobilised the concept of social justice to explore issues of urban equality (Allen and Frediani, 2013; Levy, 2015; Levy and Davila, 2018).
We encourage paper submissions that address one or more of the following key themes:
The concept, measurement and framing of urban (in)equalities from a multidimensional perspective.
The role of different knowledge claims and knowledge co-production in addressing urban inequalities.
Comparative and collaborative perspectives on urban inequalities and the notion of “pathways” to urban equality.
The challenges of addressing inequality from a situated and intersectional perspective, considering issues of class, gender, age, race, ethnicity, religion, ability, migration status, or sexuality, as well as local trajectories that have shaped disparities.
Discussions on urban and territorial governance, democracy and participation in addressing urban inequality.
Experiences of community participation and social movements’ involvement in tackling urban inequalities.
Interconnections between urban inequality challenges and contemporary phenomena such as climate emergency, forced migrations and COVID-19.
The role of sectoral policies (land, housing, transport, health, education, energy, infrastructure, etc.), financial mechanisms, and planning in tackling urban inequalities at different scales.
Urbanisation processes and the (re)production of inequalities, segregation and fragmented infrastructure and cities.
The interconnection between urban inequalities and wider development challenges and human rights.
Fraser, N (1995), “From redistribution to recognition? Dilemmas of justice in a ‘post-socialist’ age”, New Left Review Vol 212, pages 68–93.
Young, I M (2011), Justice and the Politics of Difference. Princeton University Press.
Allen, A and A F Alexandre (2013), Farmers, not gardeners. [Online]. 17(3), 365–381. Available from: doi:10.1080/13604813.2013.796620.
Lemanski, C and C Marx, eds. (2015), The City in Urban Poverty. Springer.Allen, A, L Griffin and C Johnson, eds. (2017), Environmental Justice and Urban Resilience in the Global South. New York, NY, Palgrave Macmillan US, pages 1–307.
There is growing recognition among policymakers and researchers around the world that cities perform a leading role in economic growth and human development. This contribution is doubly important as countries seek to bounce back from the dual health and economic crises of COVID-19. Although the pandemic threatens core aspects of urban life, such as density and connectivity, cities are best placed to lead the economic recovery, renewal and transformation. This is because they have inherent advantages for growth and inclusion arising from the concentration of assets, institutions and diverse skill sets, along with strong information and trading connections to other cities and regions. These attributes have the potential to foster dynamic human and business interactions that promote learning, stimulate enterprise, raise productivity, create jobs and livelihoods, and increase the returns on public and private investment. However, the positive feedback and synergies are not automatic because urban growth is also accompanied by congestion, pollution, overloaded infrastructure, social tensions and higher property prices, which can deter productive investment, entrepreneurial talent and highly skilled workers. Successful outcomes seem to require capable city-level institutions to guide the process and provide essential public goods and services, because market mechanisms cannot organise urban development effectively to ensure that it creates functional, liveable and sustainable environments.
The purpose of this special issue is to explore the contemporary opportunities and challenges facing cities in seeking to boost economic growth and ensure widely shared prosperity. What are the foundations of urban economic success in the twenty first century and how are these changing? What obstacles need to be tackled to harness the potential of urbanisation to lift people out of poverty and improve their wellbeing? Environment and Urbanization encourages submissions that address one or more of the following key themes:
The relationship between urbanisation and economic growth/development.
The challenge of low productivity, low investment and low income urban growth, and the success of efforts to transform these conditions.
The effectiveness of efforts to promote small, medium and/or large enterprises, to create jobs and to secure livelihoods.
The changing relationship among the locations of firms, households and transport systems in the post-pandemic city.
The planning and financing of urban infrastructure to improve productivity and liveability.
The role of city-level governance and institutions in planning and managing urban economic development.
The role of cities in macroeconomic policies, national industrial policies and/or national infrastructure plans.
Ways of understanding and enhancing links between city economies and economic activity in small towns and villages in the surrounding area.
The concept and measurement of urban density and its economic upsides and downsides.
The existence and strength of agglomeration economies in the Global South.
The relationship between urban economies and the climate emergency.
The contribution of digital technology and/or innovation to urban economic development.
III. Discounted Prices and Electronic Access to Environment and Urbanization
All papers published in Environment and Urbanization since its first issue in 1989 are available at http://journals.sagepub.com/home/eau, and all but those published during the last two years are open access and so available electronically free of charge. Printed subscriptions to the journal are also available at no charge to libraries or resource centres of universities or teaching or training institutions in low- and middle-income nations.
In addition, the publisher of Environment and Urbanization, SAGE Publications, offers large discounts on subscription prices to charities and students and to all subscribers from low- and middle-income nations − see http://journals.sagepub.com/home/eau and click on “Subscribe”. With regard to electronic access, there are schemes that allow access to Environment and Urbanization for universities and research centres in low- and middle-income nations − see Research4Life (http://www.research4life.org). This includes Online Access to Research on the Environment (OARE), which has research journals on the environment, including Environment and Urbanization (http://www.unep.org/oare).
IV. Sister Journals
The last 31 issues of Medio Ambiente y Urbanización (MAyU), published by IIEDAmérica Latina, are accessible at no charge at http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/iieal/meda. Urbanisation, co-published by SAGE and the Indian Institute for Human Settlements, is available at http://urbanisationjournal.com.
V. Blogs
Recent Urban Matters blogs (http://www.iied.org/urban-matters):
Multiple housing and climate-related vulnerabilities of informal workers in Indore, India – Siddarth Agarwal
Definitions matter: part two – David Satterthwaite
The case for sewers – David Satterthwaite
Digital tools amplify the voice of women in Peruvian communities – Pamela Hartley Pinto
Definitions matter: part one – David Satterthwaite
Taking stock: community responses to COVID-19 in cities – David Satterthwaite
Upgrading informal settlements in the global South: transforming relations with government, transforming lives – David Satterthwaite
Street vendors and garbage pickers need protection from climate extremes – Alice Sverdlik
Can we reduce urban poverty and inequality and achieve net zero cities? – Anna Walnycki
Do urban populations benefit from urban bias? – David Satterthwaite
Making strides to improve health and climate resilience in Zimbabwe’s cities – Artwell Kadungure
Reducing urban poverty: lessons not learnt? – David Satterthwaite
We also want greens in our meals: community gardens in the Philippines – Ofelia Bagotlo
Rethinking urban climate resilience: time for a reset? – Aditya Bahadur
Community-led COVID-19 response: an update from the Philippines – Ruby Papeleras
How India’s civil society rose up in the face of COVID-19 – Aditya Bahadur
VI. Social Media
To receive news about Environment and Urbanization and urban issues in general, including updates when new Book Notes are available, please follow the journal on Twitter at @EandUjournal. Also on Twitter are editor-in-chief Diana Mitlin @Diana Mitlin and editor David Satterthwaite @Dsatterthwaite. You can visit and follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/EnvironmentandUrbanization. Our LinkedIn page is https://www.linkedin.com/company/environment-andurbanization.
VII. Email Newsletter
The urban newsletter of the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) is emailed to subscribers several times a year and provides updates on the Human Settlements Group’s activities and publications. To sign up to receive the newsletter, please visit http://www.iied.org/sign-up.
You can sign up to receive email alerts about new Environment and Urbanization articles at http://journals.sagepub.com/home/eau.
VIII. Engaging Readers in Book Notes
Our Book Notes section has short summaries of new publications (including working papers and books) that we prepare. We invite you to send us short summaries of new publications you have read that you found interesting – and relevant to urban issues. This includes summaries in English of works published in other languages. Authors may submit summaries too, but not promotional material. You can send these summaries to