The urban in fragile, uncertain, neoliberal times: towards new geographies of social justice?

Abstract

Canadian cities are at a crossroads. The neoliberalization of governance at multiple scales, inadequate re‐investment in urban infrastructure, increasing reliance on continental and international trade, and the restructuring of the space economy have combined to weaken Canada's cities just as the global economic system is undergoing transformation. Canadian urban geographic scholarship has much to offer under current conditions, and is already making significant contributions in key areas. In particular, research on what might be called the contours and impacts of urban restructuring and the neoliberal city, immigration and cities of difference, and urban environmental justice show much promise and are likely to define the core of Canadian urban geography into the future.

Generational Dimensions of Neoliberal and Post‐Fordist Restructuring: The Changing Characteristics of Young Adults and Growing Income Inequality in Montreal and Vancouver

“…Some commentators suggested that the movement was struggling to develop a unifying message — however, if there is one overarching theme it is an evident sense of dissatisfaction with the current system, and the inequalities and uncertainties it appears to have generated for the young and future generations (Bridge, ; Taibbi, ). The academic literature has previously documented income inequalities, particularly in relation to the post‐Fordist and neoliberal restructuring that altered the economic and governance contexts (see Walks, ). In the vein of critical quantitative scholarship in urban and regional research, the quantitative evidence can be used to provide grounds for policy intervention and advocate systemic change (Wyly, ; Quastel et al ., ).…”

The Emotional City: Refugee Settlement and Neoliberal Urbanism in Calgary

“…Even groceries are expensive here, more so than Toronto" (Focus Group, September 2007b). These socioeconomic issues are clearly not experienced only by recently arrived refugees and immigrants; nevertheless, negotiating the settlement process is made more challenging by this context (Walks 2009). …”

“…We also acknowledge that Calgary's experience of neoliberalism has been more intense than in some other cities, as we shall explore in greater detail. Nonetheless, many of the obstacles to a satisfactory experience are not unique to Calgary, as the decline in public institutions and facilities, as well as public space more generally, is shared by urban centers nationwide (Basu 2007;Rahder and Milgrom 2004;Ruppert 2006;Walks 2009). As Vander Ploeg (2008) has summarized, "throughout the 1990s Canada's cities have experienced a financial crunch in the form of reduced grants, inconsistent and unpredictable funding for investments in infrastructure, and the offloading of some federal and provincial services" (p. 1).…”

“…Increased prosperity and opportunity for some residents of the neoliberal city entails ongoing inequality and new forms of exclusion for others. Walks (2009) argues for more research into how "urban space [mediates] …the construction of citizenship and identity" (p. 351) in the context of neoliberal urban policies. Some scholars have also raised the specific issue of neoliberalism's relationship to the social: Miller (2006) contends that "[n]eoliberalism poses itself as the end of the social.…”

Social Justice and the Creative City: Class, Gender and Racial Inequalities

“…In today's ''fragile, uncertain, neoliberal times'' (Walks 2009), finding solutions to inequality is made even more difficult by policy approaches that repackage the status quo. In its current formulation, the creative city idea is increasingly recognised as an extension of older forms of inequitable urban policies (Peck 2005).…”