Of (not) being neighbors: cities, citizens and climate change in an age of migrations

Abstract

Borders are back with a vengeance. From the Americas to the Mediterranean, borders cut through the increasingly integrated world in a way that exposes the inside-outside logic of contemporary capitalism. All this happens on a backdrop where cities are becoming the key sites of contestation since borders and levees do not suffice to keep them intact. Cities are also increasingly becoming the focus of international efforts to deal with climate change and migration, where nationstates are falling short. By synthesizing the possibilities of urban belonging and right-to-the-world, we argue that new urban imaginaries are at the frontline of the mobilities debate today. Consequently, we argue for a cross-pollination of mobility justice and climate justice as urban citizenship. The main thrust of our argument is that there are viable alternatives to the isolationist fortress nation model, which can bring a new dimension to debates concerning climate change and migration. Fearless cities are but one example of these emerging alternatives. By focusing on the opportunities for a radical response to climate change and migration, we suggest that cities can respond to the burning mobility challenges of our times with a just, grounded and egalitarian urban citizenship framed as mobile commons.

Introduction

“…Th is is crystalized for example in debates on urban sustainability and unequal migrations in cities, which are often divided between safe "fortressed" zones of luxury and consumption and "camps" that host the unwanted populations of the Anthropocene, such as climate refugees and dispossessed migrant labor. 35 Ultimately, even in its current analytical orientation to global states of risk and emergency, the paradigm's core theme seems to be human subjectivity and agency in a more-than-human world. Th is is crucial: although all the previous observations focus to some extent on spatial (trans)formations, even the paradigm's post-humanist approaches to climate change and technology must subjectivize space and place so that we can study them.…”

Distributive Justice and Urban Form Adaptation to Flooding Risks: Spatial Analysis to Identify Toronto's Priority Neighborhoods

“…The lack of land tenure rights and informality in the Global South and discriminatory policies and zoning laws based on market rules in the Global North have led, over time, to the systematic disinvestment in these vulnerable and flood-prone neighborhoods (Chakraborty et al, 2014;Borie et al, 2019;Michael et al, 2019). Among the residents of these neighborhoods are new immigrants with language and employment barriers who lack community connections and citizenship entitlements, including election rights, to influence the formal urban governance structures and local decisionmakers; hence, they are often excluded from flood awareness, warning, and management programs (Donner and Rodríguez, 2008;Dodman et al, 2019;Turhan and Armiero, 2019). Additionally, the employment of these vulnerable groups in lowpaying service jobs, their everyday struggles for basic needs like food, and their lack of housing ownership render them financially unable to adopt flood protective behavior, such as buying insurance and retrofitting their flimsy settlements (Anguelovski et al, 2020;Herreros-Cantis et al, 2020;Ziervogel, 2020).…”

Dayanıklılık Kavramına Alternatif olarak Çevresel Adalet: Hindistan Örneği

“…Therefore, exclusionary managerial techno-fixes do not offer healthy and just answers. Environmental justice framework, suggesting the examination of the causes of injustice at multiple layers (individual, communal, racial, national, and class), provides far-reaching solutions (Turhan and Armiero, 2019).…”