The Politics of Urban Expertise

This doctoral research investigates the politics of urban expertise in the context of urban redevelopment schemes in Cape Town and London. Paying attention to the politics of scientific techniques and experts in particular sites, this research engages with contemporary urban scholarship looking at the role of expertise in the production of urban space and the politicisation of experts’ activities. The analysis presented here introduces three analytical concepts that intend to capture the relationship between politics, expertise and spatial transformations, namely the concepts of abstraction, performance and maintenance. These three concepts form the theoretical backbone of the comparative analysis presented in this thesis, which looks at two urban redevelopment projects: King’s Cross Central in London, and the Fringe in Cape Town. The empirical examination of the two cases reveals that the socio-technical conditions underpinning the production of urban expertise in both projects support the dominance of techno-financial expertise in the design of spatial interventions. This hegemony is supported by the institutionalisation of financial and economic valuation techniques as key instruments to assess the quality and credibility of the visions behind urban projects. Paradoxically, the research findings also shed light on the relative marginalisation of individual technical experts, whose ability to meaningfully influence the design of redevelopment projects is constrained by project timeframes and resource allocations. The extent to which the status quo can be resisted is also explored, as this research unpacks the mechanics of counter-expertise and discusses community groups’ capacity to subvert dominant modes of expertise production and to generate alternatives to techno-financial expertise

The global politics of an urban age: creating 'cities for all' in the age of financialisation

Our globalised and increasingly urban world demands an understanding of how ideas about how to build cities travel to become embedded in places. In this context, private actors operating across borders such as investors, real estate developers, international consultants, global construction companies and engineering firms appear as key agents of change in cities. However, real estate developers’ interactions with local stakeholders and their role in territorialising global financial strategies have been relatively under-explored in urban studies and global discussions about our 'urban future', especially within discussions on the implementation of the New Urban Agenda (NUA). This paper aims to initiate future research on this topic, providing some preliminary reflections on the role of developers as key transfer agents in the global movement of capital and its anchoring in places through the transformation of the urban built environment. In this way, we hope to offer some clarity on the transnational movement of financial capital to new places and markets, asking how real estate developers contribute to the dissemination of a global capitalist logic across cities, and what challenges this poses to the implementation of the NUA? To do so, the piece brings together insights from policy mobility literature and recent work on the financialisation of urban developments with the aim of critically assessing whether and how some of the key objectives of the NUA can be achieved in a context characterised by heavy involvement by real estate actors in city-making

Smart cities, digital connectivity and social inclusion: paving the way to inclusive urban strategies

Cities have become key players in the global economic landscape, with only 600 cities contributing to 60% of the world’s economic output. The proportion of world’s population living in urban areas is projected to be rising from 50% today to 75% in 2050. Despite the economic benefits derived from the concentration of economic activities, concern has emerged about the negative externalities of urbanised modes of development. As a response to these challenges, more attention has been given to inclusive and sustainable urban modes of development that would reconcile the objectives of sustainability and economic competitiveness. The concept of smart cities has gained in popularity among policy-makers over the last two decades. However, smart city programmes have often been focusing on the development of ICT infrastructures. This brief article argues that digital strategies must be complemented by policies that improve people’s and local firms’ ability to grasp the potential benefits of these new technological and networking opportunities

The anatomy of change in urban infrastructure landscapes:cooking landscapes in Maputo, Mozambique

Rapid urbanisation and global environmental transformations require rethinking the material and social configurations of cities. The concept of ‘transitions’ has gained traction to guide such processes of infrastructure change towards net-zero, resilient societies both in academic and policy conversations. In this paper, we examine what notions of change are deployed in these debates. Specifically, we argue that transition theory conceptualises change as triggered by intentional actions and innovations by emphasising the functional drivers leading change. While deliberate actions cause changes, not all change follows strategic intent. Instead, transitions also depend on contingent relations between social actors and material objects, which cannot always be planned or anticipated. The concept of ‘urban infrastructure landscape’ helps reveal the non-strategic aspects of transitions. The example of improved cookstoves in Maputo, Mozambique, demonstrates the change envisaged in current energy policy and the changes on the ground

Financial aspects of micro- and pico- community energy systems

This briefing reviews the financial aspects of micro- and pico- grid community energy systems. Most guidance has been developed for micro-grids, particularly those that operate commercially. However, micro- and pico- systems, given their smaller size (1 to 50kW), may depend on different funding mechanisms than larger projects. Apart from size, the resource and material requirements of a small community energy system may change them qualitatively. This briefing discusses some principles for the financial management of micro- and pico-electrical grids, and outlines steps for the development of a financial plan, drawing on previous experiences with micro-grids. It also provides a summary of the different types of costs that will need to be considered, a discussion of additional costs which may be particularly relevant in community energy systems (CES), and concludes with a discussion of the different ways in which cost-recovery could be considered

Delivering an off-grid transition to sustainable energy in Ethiopia and Mozambique

Background: Off-grid and decentralized energy systems have emerged as an alternative to facilitate energy access and resilience in a flexible, adaptable way, particularly for communities that do not have reliable access to centralized energy networks both in rural and urban areas. Much research to date on community energy systems has focused on their deployment in Europe and North America. This paper advances these debates by looking at how community energy systems can support energy transitions in Africa. Specifically, it asks: what role can community energy systems play in the energy transition in East and Southern Africa? Results: This article investigates the potential for community energy to foster sustainable and just energy transitions in two countries in East and Southern Africa, namely Ethiopia and Mozambique. To do so, it explores transformations in Ethiopia and Mozambique’s energy systems through the lens of energy landscapes. This concept enables us to situate energy transitions within recent developments in energy governance and to understand current and future possibilities for change through the involvement of communities that currently lack access to reliable and clean energy. Our results show that when countries face the prospects of lucrative energy investments in natural gas or large hydropower, renewables are often deprioritized. Their suitability to address energy challenges and access gaps is de-emphasized, even though there is little evidence that investment in large-scale generation can handle the energy needs of the most disadvantaged groups. Initiatives and policies supporting community-focused renewable energy have remained limited in both countries. They tend to be designed from the top-down and focused on rural areas when they exist. Conclusions: Energy transitions in Ethiopia and Mozambique, and many other countries with significant gaps in access to centralized energy systems, require putting inclusivity at the forefront to ensure that energy policies and infrastructure support the well-being of society as a whole. As long as investments in off-grid energy continue to depend on international organizations’ goodwill or development aid programs outside the ambit of national energy plans, energy access gaps will remain unaddressed, and there will not be a genuine and just transition to sustainable energy

Evaluating a complex research capacity-building intervention: reflections on an evaluation of the African Institutions Initiative

Increasing policy demand for realist evaluations of research and capacity-building programmes reflects a recognition of the management, governance and impact gains that can result from evaluation. However, the evidence base on how to successfully implement realist evaluations of complex interventions in international development efforts is scarce. We know little about the associated merits, limitations and ways to mitigate challenges. There is a need for reflective work which considers the methodology in context. This paper shares learning from the experience of conducting a realist, theory-of-change driven evaluation of the African Institutions Initiative, a Wellcome Trust funded programme which aimed to build sustainable health research capacity in Africa at institutional and network levels, across seven research consortia. We reflect on the key challenges experienced throughout the evaluation and recommend ways of managing them, highlight opportunities and critical success factors associated with this evaluation approach, as well as elaborate on alternative evaluation approaches

Redefining the role of urban studies Early Career Academics in the post-COVID-19 university

We are an international collective of Early Career Academics (ECAs) who met throughout 2020 to explore the implications of COVID-19 on precarious academics. With this intervention, our aims are to voice commonly shared experiences and concerns and to reflect on the extent to which the pandemic offers opportunities to redefine Higher Education and research institutions, in a context of ongoing precarity and funding cuts. Specifically, we explore avenues to build solidarity across institutions and geographies, to ensure that the conduct of urban research, and support offered to ECAs, allows for more inclusivity, diversity, security and equitability. *The Urban ECA Collective emerged from a workshop series described in this article which intended to foster international solidarity among self-defined early career academics working within urban research.ITESO, A.C