Suchergebnisse

AbstractIn this paper I focus on the substantial research funding cuts announced by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) in March 2021 to examine the process of funding for and participation in global research projects for researchers based in Southern institutions. I focus here on three key aspects of participating in global research projects: first, the structures through which these grants are created—the programmatic frameworks or other imperatives that confine and limit this work to Northern/Western‐centric frames; secondly, the precarity of these grants and the work that they generate; and, thirdly, the increasingly output‐related and time‐bound nature of work in light of limited support. I argue that the effects of these are felt disproportionately by those located in the global South and are therefore worth considering as part of larger debates centred on democratizing and decolonizing knowledge networks.

AbstractIn an increasingly global India, an agricultural community in Pune, Maharashtra was faced with losing farmland to urbanization and devised an unusual solution. Pooling their land together, these farmers leveraged their social and political networks to take advantage of the changing economic climate in Pune and built a mixed‐use township on their 400 acres of farmland. They formed alliances with other stakeholders, both internally within the agricultural community and externally at the city and state levels. This case study highlights the significance of ad‐hoc coalitions in the power and politics of urban processes in an Indian city. These coalitions have emerged as a result of a political power and leadership vacuum in Indian cities in the face of the changing focus and priorities of national and regional governments as well as a growing gap in urban service provision.RésuméDans une Inde toujours plus mondialisée, une communauté agricole de Pune (Maharashtra) confrontée à la perte de terres cultivées au profit de l'urbanisation a mis au point une solution originale. Réunissant leurs terres, les agriculteurs ont mobilisé leurs réseaux sociaux et politiques pour tirer parti du nouveau climat économique de Pune, créant une commune plurifonctionnelle sur les 160 hectares de leurs terres arables. Ils ont formé des alliances avec d'autres parties prenantes, à la fois au sein de la communauté agricole et aux niveaux de la ville et de l'État. Cette étude de cas souligne l'importance des coalitions ponctuelles dans les structures de pouvoir et les politiques des processus urbains en Inde. Dans les villes indiennes, ces coalitions sont nées d'une vacance du pouvoir politique et des responsables face à l'évolution des centres d'intérêt et des priorités des gouvernements national et régionaux, ainsi que des insuffisances croissantes dans la fourniture des services urbains.

The ten essays in Future Challenges of Cities in Asia engage with some of the most critical urban questions of the near future across Asia. These comprise socio-economic and cultural transitions as a result of urbanization; environmental challenges, especially questions of climate change, natural disasters, and environmental justice; and the challenges of urban infrastructure, built form, and new emerging types of urban settlements. The essays demonstrate that it is increasingly difficult to conceptualize the 'urban' as one particular type of settlement. Rather, it would be more accurate to say that the 'urban' characterizes a global transition in the way we are beginning to think about settlements. This book is of interest not only to researchers interested in comparative and inter-disciplinary research, but also to urban practitioners more broadly, illustrating through concrete cases the challenges that urban regions in Asia and beyond are facing, and the various opportunities that exist for dealing with these challenges.