I just saw a great documentary by Sanjay Kak, called Words on Water (2003).  It focuses on longstanding resistance to the construction of giant dams in India’s Narmada Valley. The footage is captivating,  including a scene in which Arundhati Roy is arrested and taken to jail in an SUV owned by a dam construction company. In another scene, James Wolfensohn (during his tenure as president of the World Bank) talks through a chain-link fence to a crowd of protesters. I found the activists very inspiring, although I know there are other ways of viewing this conflict. There must be a way to safeguard against abuses of power, and I think it starts with this kind of organized community action.

Credits: Image of a scene in Words on Water from magiclanternfoundation.org.

[Originally posted to polis] This post is about making places, from Watts Towers to attractive neighborhoods. It looks at different ways that artists participate, and whether they might help bring about an urban development that would make Christopher Alexander proud.

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Originally posted to polis] Recent developments in Kibera and Dharavi, two of the most high-profile slums in the world, underscore the importance of including informal workers in planning decisions. In Kibera, a UN-backed slum clearance is underway amidst protest from residents whose livelihoods are at risk (and landlords who control informal real estate). The redevelopment plan for Dharavi has been stalled due to upcoming elections, as politicians appear reluctant to alienate the millions of voters involved in the economy it would displace. Slum redevelopment often exacerbates poverty when informal workers are not involved in decision-making processes.

Living conditions in slums can be improved without uprooting local economies. An international research network called WIEGO has been addressing occupational health and safety (OHS) in the informal sector. Through this initiative, researchers find out which government agencies are in charge of OHS and help informal workers open channels for dialog in policy development. WIEGO makes sure they have the resources for effective advocacy. OHS researchers also compile best-practices among government programs that have established successful workplace standards in informal settlements.

WIEGO is part of the Inclusive Cities Project, which promotes the representation of informal workers in planning decisions. They work with membership-based organizations in slums to influence municipal policy. Informal businesses are considered essential to poverty reduction, especially when accompanied with adequate infrastructure, regulation, and stimulus. If these businesses were included under effective legal structures, worker exploitation could be monitored and tax revenues used to finance improved living conditions.

Elinor Ostrom, Basudeb Guha-Khasnobis, and Ravi Kanbur have recently published a book titled Linking the Formal and Informal Economy: Concepts and Policies. It includes theoretical and empirical studies that identify close relationships between the two sectors. Understanding informal business as an integral part of a city’s economy could encourage legal representation, protection, and accountability. In addition, Ostrom’s research on commons, institutions, social capital, and human-environment interaction is very relevant to planning and development from within informal settlements.

Communities like Kibera and Dharavi have complex and active economies that can be included in legal governance. It’s essential for informal workers to have a way of protecting their rights and livelihoods.

Credits: Photo of a boy in Dharavi by Jonas Bendiksen. Photo of Kibera residents from The Gardian.

[Originally posted to Where] A public school in Philadelphia is training students in food production and environmental care on an urban farm. The Walter Biddle Saul High School of Agricultural Sciences is a magnet program with 600 students from throughout the city. Located in the upper Roxborough neighborhood, it includes a 130-acre farm with livestock, greenhouses, crops, and pastures.

Saul offers concentrations in Food Science, Floriculture and Greenhouse Management, Landscape Design, Animal Science, and Natural Resource Management. In addition to the agricultural program, students take a full range of high-school, advanced-placement, and college-level courses. The results are impressive. Saul’s average graduation rate is 95 percent, with 80 percent going on to college. Other students start their own businesses or are hired into skilled agricultural jobs right after graduation.

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This page features accessible instructions on setting up environmental field studies. It’s a great way to get started with sampling soil, water, air, plants, and wildlife. Information is provided by the Field Studies Council (FSC), a nonprofit organization that sponsors training, research, publication, and international outreach around environmental sustainability.

Photo appears on the Make your own fieldwork equipment page of the FSC website

Quoted from the Field Studies Council website: FSC has become internationally respected for its national network of 17 education centres, international outreach training projects, research programmes, information and publication services and wide range of fascinating professional training and leisure courses…The FSC believes the more we know about the environment, the more we can appreciate its needs and protect its diversity and beauty for future generations.

Today I visited the former subway tunnel in my home town, Rochester, NY. Later I was surprised to find a lot of information about it online, including a Wikipedia page and a documentary. There is also a group called the Rochester Rail Transit Committee (RRTC), which hopes to resurrect the subway to provide light rail service in the city and up to Lake Ontario.

I’ve posted a photo tour of the section that runs below the Rundel Memorial Building and across the Broad Street Bridge. Here are a few related links: map from 1928, map with proposed new lines, historical photos, contemporary photos, additional information.

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ArchNet contains a wealth of photos, publications, and other resources on architecture and planning. It is produced by the MIT School of Architecture and funded by the Aga Khan Trust. My favorite section is the Digital Library, where you can browse through historical buildings by name, country, style, type, use, and century.

Photo by Joseph Brakhya

Quoted: ArchNet is an international online community for architects, planners, urban designers, landscape architects, conservationists, and scholars, with a focus on Muslim cultures and civilisations.

The European Union has provided the initial investment to station solar plants along the desert shores of the Mediterranean in northern Africa and the Middle East. They hope to significantly reduce their carbon emissions and increase the supply of drinking water in the desert region through a desalination process linked to solar energy production.

Although this process is currently twice as expensive as coal-generated power, plans are underway to reduce costs. Technological innovation and international energy standards could advance similar projects throughout the world. A recent article in Scientific American (January 2008) titled ‘A Solar Grand Plan’ describes a large-scale solar initiative taking shape in the United States.

This picture of a parabolic trough CSP (Concentrating Solar Power) plant in the Nevada desert, along with more pictures and information on the Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Cooperation (TREC), can be found at the TREC-UK website.

Quoted from ‘How Africa’s desert sun can bring Europe power’ in the Guardian (December 2, 2007): Billions of watts of power could be generated this way, enough to provide Europe with a sixth of its electricity needs and to allow it to make significant cuts in its carbon emissions. At the same time, the stations would be used as desalination plants to provide desert countries with desperately needed supplies of fresh water.

The 2007 report assesses progress toward the eight Millennium Development Goals between the years 2000 and 2005. Under “Assure Environmental Sustainability” there is a section on extreme poverty in urban slums.

Rapid urbanization has given rise to increased slum populations throughout the developing world. While cities represent hope for many, destitute conditions severely threaten human well-being. It’s interesting that the section on slums is grouped with the environmental sustainability goals.

Photo from page 9 of the Millennium Development Goals Report 2007

Quoted from the Millennium Development Goals Report 2007 (PDF): Already, nearly half the world’s population live in cities in towns. But due to urban migration and rapid population growth, the number of urban dwellers will continue to expand, from 3.2 billion people today to nearly 5 billion by 2030, with most of the growth taking place in Africa and Asia.

The Overseas Development Institute (ODI) sponsors an impressive list of research projects and events to promote global development. I especially enjoy their blog and resources (including PDFs of recent articles) on topical issues.

Photo by Christopher Anderson

Quoted: ODI is Britain’s leading independent think tank on international development and humanitarian issues. Our mission is to inspire and inform policy and practice which lead to the reduction of poverty, the alleviation of suffering and the achievement of sustainable livelihoods in developing countries. We do this by locking together highquality applied research, practical policy advice, and policy-focused dissemination and debate. We work with partners in the public and private sectors, in both developing and developed countries.