Pub Date : 2025-10-01DOI: 10.1177/00420980251372706
Wataru Morioka, Julie Cidell
Transportation and mobility are critical in shaping social, political, and cultural aspects of life through the movement of people and goods and through the infrastructure that supports that movement – including the afterlives of that infrastructure. As we consider ever more urgently the need to move away from fossil fuel-based modes of transport, we should also consider the impacts of the infrastructure that is left behind, including the uneven impacts of its reuse. The United States suffered a severe decline in passenger rail service in the 20th century, while the last several decades have seen rapid growth in freight rail. These changes have put new pressures on existing infrastructure, either intensifying its transportation function, or remaking it into something else entirely. Here, we address the question of whether the afterlives of rail infrastructure further existing environmental injustices or, alternatively, create new inequalities via environmental gentrification. Through a GIS analysis of past and present railyards in the Chicago area, we find that transportation uses have remained or intensified in communities of color and low-income neighborhoods, while neighborhoods where redevelopment has occurred have become wealthier and whiter. This suggests a double-edged impact of intensification of externalities from the global logistics system in communities already experiencing environmental injustice, while environmental gentrification is occurring around redeveloped sites where transportation infrastructure has been removed.
{"title":"Railyard reuse and spatial justice: Environmental and socio-economic impacts of infrastructural removal and intensification in Chicago","authors":"Wataru Morioka, Julie Cidell","doi":"10.1177/00420980251372706","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00420980251372706","url":null,"abstract":"Transportation and mobility are critical in shaping social, political, and cultural aspects of life through the movement of people and goods and through the infrastructure that supports that movement – including the afterlives of that infrastructure. As we consider ever more urgently the need to move away from fossil fuel-based modes of transport, we should also consider the impacts of the infrastructure that is left behind, including the uneven impacts of its reuse. The United States suffered a severe decline in passenger rail service in the 20th century, while the last several decades have seen rapid growth in freight rail. These changes have put new pressures on existing infrastructure, either intensifying its transportation function, or remaking it into something else entirely. Here, we address the question of whether the afterlives of rail infrastructure further existing environmental injustices or, alternatively, create new inequalities via environmental gentrification. Through a GIS analysis of past and present railyards in the Chicago area, we find that transportation uses have remained or intensified in communities of color and low-income neighborhoods, while neighborhoods where redevelopment has occurred have become wealthier and whiter. This suggests a double-edged impact of intensification of externalities from the global logistics system in communities already experiencing environmental injustice, while environmental gentrification is occurring around redeveloped sites where transportation infrastructure has been removed.","PeriodicalId":51350,"journal":{"name":"Urban Studies","volume":"113 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145247677","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-30DOI: 10.1177/00420980251359852
Yi Zhu, Mi Diao
This study used the opening of the Circle Line (CCL) of Singapore as a quasi-experiment and performed a series of before-and-after analyses to examine the average treatment effect by comparing the changes in the travel-activity patterns of older adults residing near the CCL stations and of those residing at a greater distance from the new stations. Our research revealed that the new urban rail line influenced the travel-activity patterns of the nearby elderly people through a combination of the mobility effect and the amenity effect. On the mobility effect, we found the new line facilitates the adjacent elderly people to engage in out-of-home activities and reduces the average travel time and distance for commuting and shopping activities. The amenity impact suggests that changes in land use surrounding CCL stations may accommodate the shopping and dining needs of adjacent older adults. In addition, the enhanced walkability of the neighborhoods can promote walking among nearby elderly people, particularly for dining, recreation, and escorting/accompanying activities. The study also found that the network effect of the new urban rail line on the activity-travel behaviors of older adults living adjacent to the non-CCL stations is limited. However, the older adults residing near the CCL stations exhibit greater propensity to choose destinations near non-CCL stations for dining and recreational activities after the opening of CCL line. These findings suggest that the urban rail line investment may yield multiple benefits for the elderly, including increased mobility, improved accessibility to services and opportunities, and a better pedestrian environment. This might shed new light for the assessment of the advantages of public transportation investment in an aging society.
{"title":"Effects of urban rail transit expansion on the mobility of the elderly: Findings from Singapore","authors":"Yi Zhu, Mi Diao","doi":"10.1177/00420980251359852","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00420980251359852","url":null,"abstract":"This study used the opening of the Circle Line (CCL) of Singapore as a quasi-experiment and performed a series of before-and-after analyses to examine the average treatment effect by comparing the changes in the travel-activity patterns of older adults residing near the CCL stations and of those residing at a greater distance from the new stations. Our research revealed that the new urban rail line influenced the travel-activity patterns of the nearby elderly people through a combination of the mobility effect and the amenity effect. On the mobility effect, we found the new line facilitates the adjacent elderly people to engage in out-of-home activities and reduces the average travel time and distance for commuting and shopping activities. The amenity impact suggests that changes in land use surrounding CCL stations may accommodate the shopping and dining needs of adjacent older adults. In addition, the enhanced walkability of the neighborhoods can promote walking among nearby elderly people, particularly for dining, recreation, and escorting/accompanying activities. The study also found that the network effect of the new urban rail line on the activity-travel behaviors of older adults living adjacent to the non-CCL stations is limited. However, the older adults residing near the CCL stations exhibit greater propensity to choose destinations near non-CCL stations for dining and recreational activities after the opening of CCL line. These findings suggest that the urban rail line investment may yield multiple benefits for the elderly, including increased mobility, improved accessibility to services and opportunities, and a better pedestrian environment. This might shed new light for the assessment of the advantages of public transportation investment in an aging society.","PeriodicalId":51350,"journal":{"name":"Urban Studies","volume":"29 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145254560","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-28DOI: 10.1177/00420980251360920
Scott Hawken, Christian Isendahl
Despite structuring most of the urban world today, the deep history and long-term relationship between agricultural and urban spaces has been overlooked and undervalued in the Urbanocene. This article introduces a novel theory and method we term ‘patch urbanism’ to explore long-term relationships between settlement form and productive agricultural landscapes. We highlight the significance of such relationships in structuring extended urban regions throughout South, Southeast and East Asia today. Specifically, we examine the concept of patch urbanism in the context of Southeast Asia’s desakota landscapes using the largest city of the preindustrial world, Angkor, as an in-depth case study. By mapping and critically analysing archaeological features that structure current landscapes through modes of path dependency, we challenge dominant urban theories and the presentist bias in much urban studies research by emphasising the enduring spatial patterns across diverse cultural contexts, contradicting the notion that such patchy landscapes are inherently unsustainable, transient or merely transitional phases towards more centralised urban forms. The concept of patch urbanism offers a valuable lens for analysing and promoting sustainable transitions in urban regions, particularly in the context of Southeast Asia. This perspective challenges dominant urban theories by emphasising the historical resilience and ecological potential of dispersed urban forms. By embracing blue, black and green infrastructures, decentralised realities and adaptive rather than idealised approaches, patch urbanism provides an alternative framework for shaping sustainable and resilient cities of the future.
{"title":"Patch urbanism: Towards an integrated theoretical framework for examining spatial and temporal dynamics in the Asian rice belt","authors":"Scott Hawken, Christian Isendahl","doi":"10.1177/00420980251360920","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00420980251360920","url":null,"abstract":"Despite structuring most of the urban world today, the deep history and long-term relationship between agricultural and urban spaces has been overlooked and undervalued in the Urbanocene. This article introduces a novel theory and method we term ‘patch urbanism’ to explore long-term relationships between settlement form and productive agricultural landscapes. We highlight the significance of such relationships in structuring extended urban regions throughout South, Southeast and East Asia today. Specifically, we examine the concept of patch urbanism in the context of Southeast Asia’s <jats:italic>desakota</jats:italic> landscapes using the largest city of the preindustrial world, Angkor, as an in-depth case study. By mapping and critically analysing archaeological features that structure current landscapes through modes of path dependency, we challenge dominant urban theories and the presentist bias in much urban studies research by emphasising the enduring spatial patterns across diverse cultural contexts, contradicting the notion that such patchy landscapes are inherently unsustainable, transient or merely transitional phases towards more centralised urban forms. The concept of patch urbanism offers a valuable lens for analysing and promoting sustainable transitions in urban regions, particularly in the context of Southeast Asia. This perspective challenges dominant urban theories by emphasising the historical resilience and ecological potential of dispersed urban forms. By embracing blue, black and green infrastructures, decentralised realities and adaptive rather than idealised approaches, patch urbanism provides an alternative framework for shaping sustainable and resilient cities of the future.","PeriodicalId":51350,"journal":{"name":"Urban Studies","volume":"4 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145182994","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-28DOI: 10.1177/00420980251367648
Matthias Sweet
This article proposes a unified theory for transportation planning based on the capabilities approach which helps reconcile three key contradictions with which transportation planning has not sufficiently grappled. Those contradictions include the following. First, should transportation planners focus on opportunities or outcomes? Second, is travel good or bad? Third, how can transportation deliver value in a polyrational world which faces challenges in balancing universalist principles (meaning that they apply everywhere) and local context? To address these contradictions, the proposed unified theory firstly includes nine core principles, builds on the work of Vecchio and Martens, and centers locally produced understandings of accessibility (here refined to the construct of freedom of access ) as one of many capabilities necessary to live a life of dignity. Transportation planners’ key roles are to locally co-produce understandings of freedom of access as a capability—thereby bridging universalist ethical frameworks (ones which apply everywhere) into local circumstances through discourse ethics. Secondly, the proposed approach embraces the necessary linkages between freedom of access and transportation system use. Therefore, while travel is not of central interest, it is necessary to realize other capabilities. Third, the constructs of fertile functioning , corrosive disadvantage , and tragic dilemma enable transportation planners to uniquely co-produce (with residents and institutions) interpretations linking freedom of access-as-a-capability with transportation system use-as-a-functioning. Finally, the proposed unified approach reframes public involvement from project-specific initiatives toward a community-centered and domain-specific spatial ethics of transportation planning which revisits the changing meaning of freedom of access over time.
{"title":"Towards addressing transportation planning’s contradictions: The unified theory for transportation planning based on the capabilities approach","authors":"Matthias Sweet","doi":"10.1177/00420980251367648","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00420980251367648","url":null,"abstract":"This article proposes a unified theory for transportation planning based on the <jats:italic>capabilities approach</jats:italic> which helps reconcile three key contradictions with which transportation planning has not sufficiently grappled. Those contradictions include the following. First, should transportation planners focus on opportunities or outcomes? Second, is travel good or bad? Third, how can transportation deliver value in a polyrational world which faces challenges in balancing universalist principles (meaning that they apply everywhere) and local context? To address these contradictions, the proposed unified theory firstly includes nine core principles, builds on the work of Vecchio and Martens, and centers locally produced understandings of accessibility (here refined to the construct of <jats:italic>freedom of access</jats:italic> ) as one of many capabilities necessary to live a life of dignity. Transportation planners’ key roles are to locally co-produce understandings of freedom of access as a capability—thereby bridging universalist ethical frameworks (ones which apply everywhere) into local circumstances through discourse ethics. Secondly, the proposed approach embraces the necessary linkages between freedom of access and transportation system use. Therefore, while travel is not of central interest, it is necessary to realize other capabilities. Third, the constructs of <jats:italic>fertile functioning</jats:italic> , <jats:italic>corrosive disadvantage</jats:italic> , and <jats:italic>tragic dilemma</jats:italic> enable transportation planners to uniquely co-produce (with residents and institutions) interpretations linking freedom of access-as-a-capability with transportation system use-as-a-functioning. Finally, the proposed unified approach reframes public involvement from project-specific initiatives toward a community-centered and domain-specific spatial ethics of transportation planning which revisits the changing meaning of freedom of access over time.","PeriodicalId":51350,"journal":{"name":"Urban Studies","volume":"26 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145181186","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-28DOI: 10.1177/00420980251369343
Guy Shani, Eyal Bar-Haim
This article explores the micro-foundations of youthification—the growing concentration of young, unmarried individuals in amenity-rich central cities. While previous research has established age and lifestyle preferences as key drivers of this process, given the literature’s focus on quantitative analysis, the question of how young adults themselves come to associate young adulthood with urban living remains largely unexplored. Utilizing qualitative and quantitative data, we examine the cultural meaning-making processes underlying youthification in Tel-Aviv–Jaffa. Drawing on interviews with young adults from late GenX to early GenZ, we show that young adults’ attraction to urban life stems from an understanding of young adulthood as a transitional period for personal freedom and self-exploration, with the city perceived as the ideal setting for these pursuits. This cultural perception, reinforced by interviewees’ friends, influenced locational choices both directly through lifestyle preferences and indirectly through a homophilic desire to live among other young people. We support these findings with statistical analyses of Israeli census (1983, 2008) and registry data (2021), showing that the probability of young, educated singles living in Tel-Aviv–Jaffa—and in shared apartments—was substantially higher in 2008 and 2021 than in 1983. We argue that shared understandings of young adulthood operate as cultural mechanisms linking individual choices to stable social patterns, helping to explain youthification’s persistence across generations and varying economic conditions.
{"title":"Young adulthood and the city: Exploring the micro-foundations of youthification","authors":"Guy Shani, Eyal Bar-Haim","doi":"10.1177/00420980251369343","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00420980251369343","url":null,"abstract":"This article explores the micro-foundations of youthification—the growing concentration of young, unmarried individuals in amenity-rich central cities. While previous research has established age and lifestyle preferences as key drivers of this process, given the literature’s focus on quantitative analysis, the question of how young adults themselves come to associate young adulthood with urban living remains largely unexplored. Utilizing qualitative and quantitative data, we examine the cultural meaning-making processes underlying youthification in Tel-Aviv–Jaffa. Drawing on interviews with young adults from late GenX to early GenZ, we show that young adults’ attraction to urban life stems from an understanding of young adulthood as a transitional period for personal freedom and self-exploration, with the city perceived as the ideal setting for these pursuits. This cultural perception, reinforced by interviewees’ friends, influenced locational choices both directly through lifestyle preferences and indirectly through a homophilic desire to live among other young people. We support these findings with statistical analyses of Israeli census (1983, 2008) and registry data (2021), showing that the probability of young, educated singles living in Tel-Aviv–Jaffa—and in shared apartments—was substantially higher in 2008 and 2021 than in 1983. We argue that shared understandings of young adulthood operate as cultural mechanisms linking individual choices to stable social patterns, helping to explain youthification’s persistence across generations and varying economic conditions.","PeriodicalId":51350,"journal":{"name":"Urban Studies","volume":"62 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145181187","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-27DOI: 10.1177/00420980251365182
Mu’izz Abdul Khalid, Hafizah Nor
This article examines Brunei, the sole absolutist monarchy in Southeast Asia and the broader Asia-Pacific, as a case study of how monarchies influence urban design and development. Under Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah’s absolutist rule (r. 1967–present), the state has exercised dominant control over the construction and configuration of public spaces. Through detailed analysis of key elements of Brunei Bandar Seri Begawan, this article demonstrates how the Sultan and the ruling class have materialised royal hegemony in urban form. By centring the tenets of Melayu Islam Beraja (Malay Islamic Monarchy) in such developments, the regime has cultivated a national identity rooted in monarchical authority rather than popular sovereignty. Employing the concept of the ‘spectacle’ – a social relation mediated by shared imageries – this study analyses how the urban fabric of Brunei expresses a sovereignty anchored in Malay cultural practices, Islamic values and royal kingship, so solidifying the Bruneian monarchy’s unique foundation amidst democratic tides of the region.
{"title":"Sovereign spectacles: Absolutism and architecture in the urban development of Brunei","authors":"Mu’izz Abdul Khalid, Hafizah Nor","doi":"10.1177/00420980251365182","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00420980251365182","url":null,"abstract":"This article examines Brunei, the sole absolutist monarchy in Southeast Asia and the broader Asia-Pacific, as a case study of how monarchies influence urban design and development. Under Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah’s absolutist rule (r. 1967–present), the state has exercised dominant control over the construction and configuration of public spaces. Through detailed analysis of key elements of Brunei Bandar Seri Begawan, this article demonstrates how the Sultan and the ruling class have materialised royal hegemony in urban form. By centring the tenets of <jats:italic>Melayu Islam Beraja</jats:italic> (Malay Islamic Monarchy) in such developments, the regime has cultivated a national identity rooted in monarchical authority rather than popular sovereignty. Employing the concept of the ‘spectacle’ – a social relation mediated by shared imageries – this study analyses how the urban fabric of Brunei expresses a sovereignty anchored in Malay cultural practices, Islamic values and royal kingship, so solidifying the Bruneian monarchy’s unique foundation amidst democratic tides of the region.","PeriodicalId":51350,"journal":{"name":"Urban Studies","volume":"16 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145181189","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-26DOI: 10.1177/00420980251363750
Michelle Kee, Sarah Turner
In this article, we examine two urban railway projects in Hanoi, Vietnam: Line 2A, operational since 2021, and Line 3, currently partly operational and partly under construction. Despite high hopes for these ‘sustainable’ transportation projects, little scholarly attention has focused on the inequities and negative impacts associated with their construction and operations. Specifically, the displacements and insecurities faced by Hanoi residents living or working along these lines have been largely overlooked. Drawing on conceptual debates from the recent infrastructure turn, we examine how Hanoi’s first two urban railway lines have disrupted the lives and livelihoods of local residents. Our findings are based upon in-depth qualitative fieldwork conducted in 2019, 2022, and 2024, including interviews, a photovoice project along Line 2A, and an ethnographic case study of an alley partly destroyed by Line 3’s construction. We find that the land acquisition and construction processes have inflicted infrastructural violence on numerous nearby residents and workers, creating categories of ‘lucky’, ‘unlucky’, and ‘least lucky’ residents. We investigate how some residents are adapting by establishing new livelihoods beneath or alongside the lines, carving out opportunities in otherwise underutilised spaces. We argue that these individuals are engaging in careful urban spatial politics to navigate the impacts of these projects while avoiding conflict with urban officials focused on ‘modernisation’ discourses.
{"title":"Disrupted spaces, adaptive lives: Unequal impacts of Hanoi’s first urban railway lines","authors":"Michelle Kee, Sarah Turner","doi":"10.1177/00420980251363750","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00420980251363750","url":null,"abstract":"In this article, we examine two urban railway projects in Hanoi, Vietnam: Line 2A, operational since 2021, and Line 3, currently partly operational and partly under construction. Despite high hopes for these ‘sustainable’ transportation projects, little scholarly attention has focused on the inequities and negative impacts associated with their construction and operations. Specifically, the displacements and insecurities faced by Hanoi residents living or working along these lines have been largely overlooked. Drawing on conceptual debates from the recent infrastructure turn, we examine how Hanoi’s first two urban railway lines have disrupted the lives and livelihoods of local residents. Our findings are based upon in-depth qualitative fieldwork conducted in 2019, 2022, and 2024, including interviews, a photovoice project along Line 2A, and an ethnographic case study of an alley partly destroyed by Line 3’s construction. We find that the land acquisition and construction processes have inflicted infrastructural violence on numerous nearby residents and workers, creating categories of ‘lucky’, ‘unlucky’, and ‘least lucky’ residents. We investigate how some residents are adapting by establishing new livelihoods beneath or alongside the lines, carving out opportunities in otherwise underutilised spaces. We argue that these individuals are engaging in careful urban spatial politics to navigate the impacts of these projects while avoiding conflict with urban officials focused on ‘modernisation’ discourses.","PeriodicalId":51350,"journal":{"name":"Urban Studies","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145154089","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-24DOI: 10.1177/00420980251359974
Antoine Courmont, Burcu Baykurt
Despite its pervasive presence in urban life, Google has received comparatively little scholarly attention within urban studies, especially relative to other platform companies. This special issue addresses that gap by examining Google’s evolving role in local governance. We argue that Google should be understood as an urban firm —an actor whose influence emerges not from a unified strategy but from a patchwork of experiments, negotiations, and contingent engagements across diverse territories. Three core assumptions guide our inquiry: Google is not a monolith but a constellation of actors; its operations are shaped by local socio-political contexts; and its strategy is better described as experimental and adaptative rather than a fixed or unified global plan. Conceptually, we distinguish Google from other tech companies by highlighting its dual role as both platform and infrastructure, enabled by its unique capacity to collect, organize, and monetize data. Grounded in diverse empirical cases, this issue foregrounds the fragmented, negotiated, and sometimes resisted forms of Google’s urban presence—challenging the notion of a uniform digital capitalism and emphasizing the uneven, situated nature of tech power in cities.
{"title":"Google, a major stakeholder in local governance?","authors":"Antoine Courmont, Burcu Baykurt","doi":"10.1177/00420980251359974","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00420980251359974","url":null,"abstract":"Despite its pervasive presence in urban life, Google has received comparatively little scholarly attention within urban studies, especially relative to other platform companies. This special issue addresses that gap by examining Google’s evolving role in local governance. We argue that Google should be understood as an <jats:italic>urban firm</jats:italic> —an actor whose influence emerges not from a unified strategy but from a patchwork of experiments, negotiations, and contingent engagements across diverse territories. Three core assumptions guide our inquiry: Google is not a monolith but a constellation of actors; its operations are shaped by local socio-political contexts; and its strategy is better described as experimental and adaptative rather than a fixed or unified global plan. Conceptually, we distinguish Google from other tech companies by highlighting its dual role as both platform and infrastructure, enabled by its unique capacity to collect, organize, and monetize data. Grounded in diverse empirical cases, this issue foregrounds the fragmented, negotiated, and sometimes resisted forms of Google’s urban presence—challenging the notion of a uniform digital capitalism and emphasizing the uneven, situated nature of tech power in cities.","PeriodicalId":51350,"journal":{"name":"Urban Studies","volume":"3 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145141453","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Low-income households in South Africa’s rapidly urbanising cities often face significant challenges in accessing grid electricity. These challenges are illustrative of the limitations of conventional municipality-led grid expansion, and necessitate the exploration of alternative energy solutions that could reshape energy provision in these contexts. To better understand how such alternative solutions are envisioned and realised, this paper examines an imaginary-in-the-making around off-grid electrification in informal settlements through decentralised renewable energy infrastructures. Drawing on three case studies in the City of Cape Town (CCT), it explores the social and political dynamics of this emerging off-grid electricity imaginary, and explores technical solutions for solar home systems, mini-grids, and solar-powered public lighting. At the heart of these dynamics lies the transformative shift towards the formal recognition of this imaginary in the CCT’s 2050 Energy Strategy, published in 2023. Employing dramaturgical analysis, with the Triple-Re Framework (TRF), this paper aims to understand how alternative energy imaginaries can gain traction in African cities. We argue that the dynamics around the off-grid electricity imaginary can be understood as a ‘dramaturgy of incrementalism’ a dramaturgy that creates a new political reality for informal settlements and opens up new forms of urban citizenship. The case studies demonstrate how (i) off-grid electricity imaginaries help re-imagine how renewable energy can improve electricity access in African cities while promoting equity and inclusivity, and (ii) how the dynamics around the imaginary open up new opportunities for political participation, contestation, and urban citizenship.
{"title":"Off-grid electricity imaginaries: Tracing urban citizenship in Cape Town’s informal settlements","authors":"Thandeka Tshabalala, Megan Davies, Maarten Hajer, Jesse Hoffman","doi":"10.1177/00420980251368672","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00420980251368672","url":null,"abstract":"Low-income households in South Africa’s rapidly urbanising cities often face significant challenges in accessing grid electricity. These challenges are illustrative of the limitations of conventional municipality-led grid expansion, and necessitate the exploration of alternative energy solutions that could reshape energy provision in these contexts. To better understand how such alternative solutions are envisioned and realised, this paper examines an imaginary-in-the-making around off-grid electrification in informal settlements through decentralised renewable energy infrastructures. Drawing on three case studies in the City of Cape Town (CCT), it explores the social and political dynamics of this emerging off-grid electricity imaginary, and explores technical solutions for solar home systems, mini-grids, and solar-powered public lighting. At the heart of these dynamics lies the transformative shift towards the formal recognition of this imaginary in the CCT’s 2050 Energy Strategy, published in 2023. Employing dramaturgical analysis, with the Triple-Re Framework (TRF), this paper aims to understand how alternative energy imaginaries can gain traction in African cities. We argue that the dynamics around the off-grid electricity imaginary can be understood as a ‘dramaturgy of incrementalism’ a dramaturgy that creates a new political reality for informal settlements and opens up new forms of urban citizenship. The case studies demonstrate how (i) off-grid electricity imaginaries help re-imagine how renewable energy can improve electricity access in African cities while promoting equity and inclusivity, and (ii) how the dynamics around the imaginary open up new opportunities for political participation, contestation, and urban citizenship.","PeriodicalId":51350,"journal":{"name":"Urban Studies","volume":"40 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145127676","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Municipalities both create and capture the economic value of density through planning and other land market interventions. In theory, this position allows them to trade-off economic advantages of densification for other gains that serve public interest, such as social housing production and resource efficiency. However, despite broad scholarship on land value capture, there is limited understanding of how municipalities strategically apply value capture instruments to pursue particular land use interests in densifying cities. We investigate, in a qualitative study of 14 large and mid-sized Finnish municipalities, what the land use interests are that municipalities motivate densification with, and how they tailor the use of one type of flexible value capture instrument – a contract negotiated between the municipality and the landowner prior to the approval of a plan that allows densification – to trade-off land value increase for certain interests. Our analysis shows that municipalities’ densification-related land use interests are heterogeneous and marked by the political realities of urban sustainability. We document that the value capture contracting practices reflect the interest plurality, as municipalities trade-off land value increase both to specific social and environmental objectives and to less clearly expressed, often financial, interests. The article deepens understanding of municipalities as strategic actors of densification and sheds light on the explicit and implicit trade-offing practices embedded in the governance processes of densification.
{"title":"Pursuing municipal land use interests in densifying cities: How municipalities strategically apply land value capture contracting to trade-off economic value of density for other gains","authors":"Pauliina Krigsholm, Tuulia Puustinen, Heidi Falkenbach","doi":"10.1177/00420980251365014","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00420980251365014","url":null,"abstract":"Municipalities both create and capture the economic value of density through planning and other land market interventions. In theory, this position allows them to trade-off economic advantages of densification for other gains that serve public interest, such as social housing production and resource efficiency. However, despite broad scholarship on land value capture, there is limited understanding of how municipalities strategically apply value capture instruments to pursue particular land use interests in densifying cities. We investigate, in a qualitative study of 14 large and mid-sized Finnish municipalities, what the land use interests are that municipalities motivate densification with, and how they tailor the use of one type of flexible value capture instrument – a contract negotiated between the municipality and the landowner prior to the approval of a plan that allows densification – to trade-off land value increase for certain interests. Our analysis shows that municipalities’ densification-related land use interests are heterogeneous and marked by the political realities of urban sustainability. We document that the value capture contracting practices reflect the interest plurality, as municipalities trade-off land value increase both to specific social and environmental objectives and to less clearly expressed, often financial, interests. The article deepens understanding of municipalities as strategic actors of densification and sheds light on the explicit and implicit trade-offing practices embedded in the governance processes of densification.","PeriodicalId":51350,"journal":{"name":"Urban Studies","volume":"37 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145093593","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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