Infrastructures shape how resources flow through the city and influence social disparities. However, infrastructural systems are not fixed and their implications change through political and economic transformation, technological shifts and citizen mobilisation.
The theme examines how infrastructure in cities and across states, influences movements of resources, people and finance, shaping urban social and ecological (in)equalities.
Research Questions
– How are infrastructures planned and managed and what does this mean for resource flows, access and urban development?
– How do people, cities and states influence urban conditions through infrastructuralisation?
– Can infrastructure in action tackle social divisions through socio-technical innovation, common ownership and solidarity?
– How can we compare infrastructure in action across diverse scales, processes and contexts?
News
Infrastructural Challenges City Series: 001 Buenos Aires
12 June, 3-5pm Classroom 12 in 38 Mappin Street This occasional seminar series is run by the 'Infrastructure in Action' research theme at the Urban Institute. It is built around discussions on infrastructure, centred on one particular city and exploring…
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Projects
Postcolonial urbanisms and a comparative theory of infrastructure (Levenshulme funded project)
HICCUP — Heterogenous Infrastructures of Cities in Uganda Project: Thinking Infrastructure with the South. A multi-disciplinary team developing crucial knowledge about urban infrastructure challenges in Africa and the developing world
Events
Infrastructural Challenges City Series: 001 Buenos Aires
12 June, 3-5pm Classroom 12 in 38 Mappin Street This occasional seminar series is run by the 'Infrastructure in Action' research theme at the Urban Institute. It is built around discussions on infrastructure, centred on one particular city and exploring…
Read More
Call for Papers: Infrastructural futures across cities of the global north
Jonathan Silver at the Urban Institute and colleagues in Boston, Philadelphia, Manchester and Toronto are organising an Urban Studies Foundation workshop on infrastructural futures across cities of the global north. The workshop will be held at the University of Manchester…
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400
Estimated value in billions of global market for smart urban systems by 2020
53
More than half of the world’s population live in cities, making them key to improving energy efficiency
2.5
Number of people who voluntarily wear an electronic tracking device such as a smartphone
80