In Toronto, a Major Victory for Light Rail
During the last year, Toronto has been heatedly debating the future of its transit network, with billions of city dollars at stake. Toronto's current mayor, Rob Ford, ran his campaign on a pledge to build underground subway lines rather than build an above-ground light-rail network to reach the suburbs. Last week, the city council voted in favor...
City migration as a development problem? It's the ultimate urban myth
This article seeks to debunk the current perspective on urbanization in which people are considered the problem rather than the solution. Alastair Donald, associate director of the Future Cities Project, argues that, "The current view of urbanisation is problematic on two fronts: it demonstrates how a negative worldview dominates...
How the Occupy Movement Changed Urban Government
Professor Kenneth A. Stahl looks at how the "Occupy" protests revived the importance of cities as physical spaces. Stahl sees a the movement a protest against the trend among city governments to cater to "mobile consumers and capital investors" rather than their own citizenry. Is place becoming newly relevant to urban...
Obama to Cities: Drop Dead—the Life and Death of a Great American Urban Policy
Under the leadership of President Obama, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) began revitalizing its urban policy. It demonstrates the president’s commitment to cities, though a lot of work remains to be done. "When Barack Obama took office, he created the first-ever White House Office of Urban Affairs...
Cities of the Future
Eduardo Souto de Moura, the 2011 Pritzker Prize Laureate, gave a lecture on Thursday, November 17, 2011 as part of the Leaders in Global Energy Series hosted by Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs. He highlighted his most recent design of a home, his innovative use of natural light in a museum (with no...
Yesterday's City of the Future
Arcosanti, a 1970s "urban laboratory" in the desert seventy miles north of Pheonix, Arizona, was founded as a bulwark against "the problems of pollution, waste, energy depletion, land, water, air and biological conservation, poverty, segregation, intolerance, population containment, fear and disillusionment." This...
Report on Rates of Urbanization in China
New data on China reveals that its middle class will hit 40 percent by 2020. It is currently urbanizating at a rate of 47% but that will increase to 55% by 2020, according to the International City Development Report released jointly by the Social Sciences Academic Press and Shanghai Academy of Social Science The Shanghaiist reports, ...
At War With São Paulo’s Establishment, Black Paint in Hand
In São Paulo, a long history of socioeconomic rifts has spilled into the streets in the form of protest graffiti. As members of the lower class take up black paint to express their anger against the towering inequalities so common to Brazil, the foreign art world has developed a keen interest in the budding practice. Those...
The Population of Chinese Cities? Almost 700 Million.
Over half of China's population is now urban, not rural: Demographers had seen this moment coming. The 2010 census showed the differential between town and country to be within a mere few tenths of a percentage point. And yet it is still a remarkable turnaround. In 1980 fewer than a fifth of Chinese lived in cities, a smaller urban...
“I love the city, but am ashamed of its condition”
Kolkata, a former industrial powerhouse, is struggling to keep pace in India's modernizing economy. According to The Economist: [N]o one disputes that West Bengal has suffered deindustrialisation on a par with the likes of Detroit. According to the central bank, the state accounted for a quarter of India’s industrial capital stock...
When Paris Became . . . Paris
Robert Zaretsky reflects on 160 years of urban renewal: This year marks the 160th anniversary of the event that transformed Paris into the city that frames so many of this year’s Oscar nominees. It was in 1852 that President Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, fired by the memories and myth of his uncle’s earlier...
A New Eco-City, 100 Miles from Beijing?
The plans for a new 30-square-kilometer city in Tianjin: As China rapidly modernises, there is need to create a sustainable city model as increasing rural-urban migration places pressures and demands on overtaxed and crowded existing cities. Situated 45 kilometres from Tianjin City and 150 kilometres from the Chinese capital of...
Urban Renewal in Ecuador
Ecuador's largest city, Guayaquil, has been transformed by a dramatic redevelopment effort: In 1992, the city made a serious attempt to address its problems and reverse its negative momentum. A reorganized municipal government emphasized civic campaigns designed to increase residential connection with the city. A partnership of public and...
Saddam Hussein's Ba'th Party: Inside an Authoritarian Regime
Saddam Hussein's Ba'th Party: Inside an Authoritarian Regime A Lecture by Joseph Sassoon Moderated by Timothy Mitchell Time: 12:30-2PM Location: Knox Hall, Room 208 ~ 606 West 122nd Street, New York, NY The Ba`th came to power in Iraq in 1968 and remained there for thirty-five years until the 2003 US-led...
Apply to Join the 2012-13 Editorial Board
Application to the 2012–13 Editorial Board of the Journal of International Affairs Thank you for your interest in joining the 2012–13 Editorial Board of the Journal of International Affairs. Since 1947, the Journal has been SIPA’s flagship academic publication, giving...
Thought Leadership Forum on Authoritarian States
The Journal of International Affairs hosted a Thought Leadership Forum on Authoritarian States to mark the launch of the fall/winter 2011 issue, “Inside the Authoritarian State,” an in-depth examination of the mechanics of authoritarian regimes and the roles these states play on the world stage. The Forum is the Journal’s signature event; it...
Call for GPPN Essays
Global Public Policy Network (GPPN) Essay Contest The Journal of International Affairs is seeking student submissions for its semiannual GPPN Essay Contest. The author of the winning article will receive a $500 prize along with publication alongside noted scholars in the sixty-fifth anniversary edition of the Journal, one of the oldest and...
Call for Cordier Essays
The Andrew Wellington Cordier Essay Contest The Journal of International Affairs is seeking student submissions for its semiannual Cordier Essay Contest. The author of the winning article will receive a $500 prize along with publication alongside noted scholars in the sixty-fifth anniversary edition of the Journal, one of the...