Human+Livelihoods+and+Shadow+Cities

Livelihoods and Shadow Cities

We had a reasonable conversation about rural livelihoods and how the relate to shadow cities. We got into some of the finer details of shadow cities and what they mean for the future of sustainability. We then de-evolved into a conversation about how global sustainability can be achieved with deeply rooted factors, like basic human nature, working against it. Should we continue talking about sustainability or is it time for a new conversation/narrative? Is it worth it? We shall see.

Highlights: Finally asked the question -- Where does the city end and rural begin. Resources are brought from rural areas into the city, as well as an influx of rural residents looking for better economic opportunities. Money is sent back by rural populations, likely living in shadow citys, to their relatives in their home villages. Everything is connected, even the most rural areas are connected to cities.

Are shadow cities sustainable? Probably not. Some of us think that shadow cities might be the best, if not only option for the urban poor. Some think that they do nothing for the urban poor or anyone else and they should be deconstructed. What is clear is that they are clearly growing, with 2.5 billion people expected to inhabit shadow cities by 2050.

Human nature has played a role in how we have developed this planet and why it is so hard to get people to think globally over the long term. I brought it all the way back to the greek tragedies, which predicated that humans are products of their fear and greed (explains a lot). Others thought that was a little over the top, but I stand by it, which is why some of us decided its time to shelve sustainability and begin a new conversation.

Videos:

Zulu Weavers: __ @http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/marisa_fick_jordan_shares_the_wonder_of_zulu_wire_art.html __

Invest in Africa: @http://www.ted.com/talks/euvin_naidoo_on_investing_in_africa.html

Shadow Cities: @http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/robert_neuwirth_on_our_shadow_cities.html

More on Shadow Cities: Housing Rights @http://www.articlesbase.com/videos/5min/516902372

Readings:

--Miller, Michael Eamonn. "//Squatter City: How the Housing Crisis Threatens Venezuela's Revolution".//

--Kirkland, Tracy, Hunter, Lori M., Twine, Wayne. //"The Bush is No More": Insights on Institutional Change and Natural Resource Availability in Rural South Africa.// Society and Natural Resources. 20:337-350. 2007. Print.

-- Homewood, Kathrine. //Rural Resources and Local Livelihoods in Africa.// New York/Oxford, 2005. Pelgrave Macmillian/James Currey. Print.

-- Shackleton, Sheona. //livelihood benefits from the local level commercialization of savanna resources: a case study of the new and expanding trade in Marula beer in Bushbuckridge, South Africa.// South African Journal of Science. 100. 651-657. November/December 2004. Print.