Cities@Tufts Lectures

Tufts University and Shareable.net present Cities@Tufts, a free series exploring community innovations in urban planning. The live discussions are moderated by professor Julian Agyeman and the podcast is hosted by Shareable's Tom Llewellyn. The sessions will focus on topics such as Environmental justice vs White Supremacy in the 21st century; Sacred Civics: What would it mean to build seven generation cities; Organizing for Food Sovereignty; From Spatializing Culture to Social Justice and Public Space; Exploring Invisible Women Syndrome; The Introduction of Street Trees in Boston and New York; Design principles for the urban commons; and The Past, Present, and Future State of Cities.

Public Everyday Space: Cultural Politics in Neoliberal Barcelona with Megan Saltzman 05/20/2025

Public Everyday Space: Cultural Politics in Neoliberal Barcelona with Megan Saltzman Megan Saltzman presented her new book--Public Everyday Space: Cultural Politics in Neoliberal Barcelona--which explores how everyday practices in public space (sitting, playing, walking, etc.) challenge the increase of top-down control in the global city. Public Everyday Space focuses on post-Olympic Barcelona—a time of unprecedented levels of gentrification, branding, mass tourism, and immigration. Drawing from examples observed in public spaces (streets, plazas, sidewalks, and empty lots), as well as in cultural representation (film, photography, literature), this book exposes the quiet agency of those excluded from urban decision-making but who nonetheless find ways to carve out spatial autonomy for themselves. Absent from the map or postcard, the quicksilver spatial phenomena documented in this book can make us rethink our definitions of culture, politics, inclusion, legality, architecture, urban planning, and public space. About the speaker Megan Saltzman (PhD, University of Michigan) is a teaching professor at Mount Holyoke College in the department of Spanish, Latin American, and Latinx Studies, where she also contributes to the Five Colleges of Massachusetts Architectural Studies Program. Her research focuses on contemporary urban culture of Spanish cities with a transnational and ethnographic approach. Her 2024 book, combines literary and visual arts with fieldwork to expose how everyday practices in public space (sitting, playing, street selling) not only challenge the city’s policed image but also serve to carve out autonomy from below. Megan has published on urban cultural themes in Spain related to gentrification, spatial in/exclusion, immigration, nostalgia, recycling, urban furniture design, grassroots cultural centers and “artivism.” Most recently Megan has been teaching courses that revolve around three themes: (1) urban studies, (2) material and non-human culture, and (3) ethnically hybrid identities. Besides teaching at Mount Holyoke, Megan has enjoyed teaching at a variety of colleges, including the University of Otago (New Zealand), Grinnell College, the University of Michigan, Amherst College, West Chester University, and this coming fall at Sophia University in Tokyo. In addition to this audio, you can read the full transcript of the conversation and watch the lecture recording on – while you’re there get caught up on past lectures. Lectures explores the impact of urban planning on our communities and the opportunities to design for greater equity and justice with professor . Cities@Tufts Lectures is produced by Tufts University and with support from is our co-producer and audio editor. The original portrait of Hessann Farooqi was illustrated by , and the series is co-produced and hosted by . “Light Without Dark” by is our theme song. /episode/index/show/citiestufts/id/36644265

A History of Violence: The Legacy of Environmental Racism in Canada with Ingrid Waldron 04/17/2025

A History of Violence: The Legacy of Environmental Racism in Canada with Ingrid Waldron Canada was founded on enslavement and dispossession, most exemplified by its assimilationist ideologies and policies, the displacement, subjugation and oppression of Indigenous and Black peoples and cultures, and the expropriation of Indigenous lands. The colonial theft of land and the accumulation of capital have been foundational to Canada’s wealth. In this presentation, Dr. Ingrid Waldron uses settler colonial theory to examine environmental racism in Canada to highlight the symbolic and material ways in which the geographies of Indigenous and Black peoples have been characterized by erasure, domination, dehumanization, destruction, dispossession, exploitation, and genocide. She offers a historical overview of cases of environmental racism in Canada and outlines how she has been addressing environmental racism over the last 10 years in partnership with Indigenous and Black communities, and their allies. About the speaker Dr. Ingrid Waldron is Professor and HOPE Chair in Peace and Health in the Global Peace and Social Justice Program in the Faculty of Humanities at McMaster University. Her research focuses on environmental and climate justice in Black, Indigenous, and other racialized communities, mental illness and dementia in Black communities, and COVID-19 in Black and South Asian communities. Ingrid is the author of the book There’s Something in the Water: Environmental Racism in Indigenous and Black Communities, which was turned into a 2020 Netflix documentary of the same name and was co-produced by Waldron, actor Elliot Page, and Ian Daniel. She is the founder and Director of the Environmental Noxiousness, Racial Inequities and Community Health Project (The ENRICH Project) and helped develop the federal private members bill a National Strategy Respecting Environmental Racism and Environmental Justice (Bill C-226). Bill C-226 was approved at Senate on June 13, 2024, and given royal assent on June 20, 2024, becoming the first environmental justice law in Canada. Dr. Waldron’s book entitled From the Enlightenment to Black Lives Matter: The Impact of Racial Trauma on Mental Health in Black Communities, was published on November 25, 2024. It traces experiences of racial trauma in Black communities in Canada, the US and the UK from the colonial era to the present. In addition to this audio, you can read the full transcript of the conversation and watch the lecture recording on – while you’re there get caught up on past lectures. Lectures explores the impact of urban planning on our communities and the opportunities to design for greater equity and justice with professor . Cities@Tufts Lectures is produced by Tufts University and with support from is our co-producer and audio editor. The original portrait of Hessann Farooqi was illustrated by , and the series is co-produced and hosted by . “Light Without Dark” by is our theme song. /episode/index/show/citiestufts/id/36211295

Local Leadership for Climate Justice with Hessann Farooqi 03/26/2025

From City to Sink: Urban Carbon Removal as Promise and Practice with Duncan McLaren 03/10/2025

From City to Sink: Urban Carbon Removal as Promise and Practice with Duncan McLaren Climate policy increasingly relies on techniques to remove CO2 from the environment as a supplement to cutting emissions: counter-balancing residual emissions in ‘net-zero’ and reducing atmospheric concentrations of CO2 to safer levels. In this talk, Duncan will survey how cities are engaging with carbon removal – reviewing the realistic scope of possibilities such as carbon negative building materials, and carbon removal through urban waste management; and suggest ways in which urban carbon removal could be governed to contribute to goals of justice and sustainability. Duncan McLaren is currently a Research Fellow with the Institute for Responsible Carbon Removal at American University. His research examines the politics and implications for justice of novel technologies, particularly using public engagement methods. Prior to his PhD studies, completed in 2017, Duncan worked as an environmental researcher and campaigner, most recently as Chief Executive of Friends of the Earth Scotland from 2003 to 2011. He has advised and consulted for research and financial institutions, government departments, philanthropic donors and non-governmental bodies on energy, climate, urban and sustainable development issues. Duncan can be found on Bluesky @duncanmclaren.bsky.social, and at . In addition to this audio, you can read the full transcript of the conversation and watch the lecture recording on – while you’re there get caught up on past lectures. Lectures explores the impact of urban planning on our communities and the opportunities to design for greater equity and justice with professor . Cities@Tufts Lectures is produced by Tufts University and with support from is our co-producer and audio editor. The original portrait of Duncan McLaren was illustrated by , and the series is co-produced and hosted by . “Light Without Dark” by is our theme song. /episode/index/show/citiestufts/id/35611495

Solidarity Cities: Examining Solidarity Economies at the Urban Level with Maliha Safri 02/13/2025

Solidarity Cities: Examining Solidarity Economies at the Urban Level with Maliha Safri Contemporary urban discourse is caught in a binary between the Gentrified City, and the Disinvested City. Maliha Safri’s new book presents an alternative urban imaginary: the Solidarity City. Her new co-authored book Solidarity Cities. Confronting Racial Capitalism, Mapping Transformation introduces an alternative spatial imaginary highlighting solidarity relations as definitional features of urban life. In contrast to profit-motive and competition, solidarity economies and the corresponding international movement have commitments to cooperation, democracy, and inclusion. The movement is exceptionally diverse, bringing together community gardens, worker cooperatives, credit unions, all kinds of consumer cooperatives, mutual aid societies, and other organizations. The book makes visible through mapping solidarity economies in three cities - New York City, Philadelphia, and Worcester, MA and analyzes its impact on urban space through spatial analysis, qualitative research, interviews, and economic impact modeling. About the speaker Maliha Safri is Professor of economics at Drew University. Her academic research has focused on collective economic practices (including worker, food, and housing cooperatives, amidst other organizations). By teaching popular education seminars and courses with activists since 2000, and specifically with migrant workers at a variety of worker centers in the process of forming collectives, her research was based in concrete issues faced by participants of what some movement activists call solidarity economies, which are economies prioritizing cooperation and inclusion. She has published articles in Signs, Antipode, Environmental Policy and Governance, the Economist's Voice, Organization, among other journals and edited book collections. She has a new co-authored book Solidarity Cities: Confronting Racial Capitalism and Mapping Transformation (January 2025, University of Minnesota Press). Resources by Maliha Safri, Marianna Pavlovskaya, Stephen Healy and Craig Borowiak In addition to this audio, you can read the full transcript of the conversation and watch the lecture recording on – while you’re there get caught up on past lectures. Lectures explores the impact of urban planning on our communities and the opportunities to design for greater equity and justice with professor . Cities@Tufts Lectures is produced by Tufts University and with support from is our co-producer and audio editor. The original portrait of Maliha Safri was illustrated by , and the series is co-produced and hosted by . “Light Without Dark” by is our theme song. /episode/index/show/citiestufts/id/35271970

Environmental Justice, Political-Economic Inequalities, and Pathways to Justice with Prakash Kashwan 02/04/2025

Environmental Justice, Political-Economic Inequalities, and Pathways to Justice with Prakash Kashwan Most researchers of environmental and climate justice agree that political and economic inequalities hurt the environment, racial minorities, Indigenous Peoples, and other marginalized communities. Yet, these conclusions are based, almost exclusively, on analyses of the distribution of "environmental bads" (e.g., industrial pollution and toxic waste). Drawing on a longstanding and cumulative multi-methods research program focused on the distribution of "environmental goods" (biodiversity conservation), this lecture offers an alternative analysis of the relationship between environment and inequality with normative implications that are more complex than those implied in the environmental justice literature. Such ambiguous normative implications test the ability of societies to prioritize climate justice over climate action with dubious social impacts. In conclusion, we engage in collective reflections on the prospects of developing politically-resilient strategies for promoting environmental and climate justice. About the speaker Prakash Kashwan is an Associate Professor of Environmental Studies at Brandeis University. He is also the Chair of the Environmental Justice concentration in the Master of Public Policy (MPP) program at the Heller School of Social Policy and Management. His teaching, research, and scholarship focus on the intersections of environment, development, and socioeconomic and political dimensions of global environmental and climate change. Kashwan’s academic engagements build on this interdisciplinary background, including a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.), a Master’s in Forestry Management), and a Ph. D. in Public Policy awarded under the tutelage of late Professor Elinor Ostrom, a political economist, who was the joint winner of the 2009 Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences. Equally important, Kashwan’s research and writings are shaped profoundly by his over two decades-long engagements with global and international environmental governance, including a pre-academia career in international development (1999-2005). In addition to this audio, you can read the full transcript of the conversation and watch the lecture recording on – while you’re there get caught up on past lectures. Lectures explores the impact of urban planning on our communities and the opportunities to design for greater equity and justice with professor . Cities@Tufts Lectures is produced by Tufts University and with support from is our co-producer and audio editor, the original portrait of Prakash Kashwan was illustrated by , and the series is co-produced and hosted by . “Light Without Dark” by is our theme song. /episode/index/show/citiestufts/id/35147055

Mutual Aid Lessons from East Boston 01/23/2025

Decolonizing Climate and Energy Policy with Noel Healy 12/18/2024

Decolonizing Climate and Energy Policy with Noel Healy Addressing the climate crisis requires more than incremental reforms; it necessitates a transformative approach that dismantles deep-seated inequalities and confronts the historical injustices embedded in global structures. Achieving global climate justice hinges on decolonizing fossil fuel politics and dismantling obstructionist forces at both national and international levels. By drawing from and critiquing the Green New Deal movement, Professor Noel Healy explores what genuine economic and political transformation looks like in practice, emphasizing that these systemic changes are inseparable from the pursuit of global justice. Noel Healy is a Professor in the Geography and Sustainability Department at Salem State University (SSU) and the Director of the Climate Justice and Just Transitions Lab. His research explores the socio-political dimensions of rapid climate change mitigation, climate justice, fossil fuel politics, and climate obstructionism, with a focus on economic and racial justice in climate and energy policy. Dr. Healy was a contributing author on the UN’s IPCC (AR6/WGIII) report, and he serves on the advisory board of Cell Reports Sustainability and the editorial board of Energy Research and Social Sciences. In addition to this audio, you can watch the video and read the full transcript of the conversation on – while you’re there get caught up on past lectures. Lectures explores the impact of urban planning on our communities and the opportunities to design for greater equity and justice with professor . Cities@Tufts Lectures is produced by Tufts University and with support from Lectures are moderated by Professor Julian Agyeman and organized in partnership with research assistants Amelia Morton and Grant Perry. is our co-producer and audio editor, the original portrait of Jose Richard Aviles was illustrated by Ronna Alexander, and the series is co-produced and hosted by . “Light Without Dark” by is our theme song. /episode/index/show/citiestufts/id/34503820

Mobilizing Food Vending with Ginette Wessel 12/12/2024

Mobilizing Food Vending with Ginette Wessel Throughout US history, street food vending has rarely been considered an improvement to modern society or its capitalist economy. However, beginning in 2008, a new generation of mobile vendors serving high-quality, inventive foods became popular among affluent populations. Ginette Wessel’s new book, Mobilizing Food Vending: Gourmet Food Trucks in the American City (Routledge 2024), investigates the gourmet food truck movement in the US and provides a clearer understanding of the social and economic factors that shape vendor autonomy and industry growth. Using a human-centered approach, the book features case studies in a variety of American cities and uses top-down and bottom-up urban theory to frame a discussion of food trucks’ rights, displacement, and resiliency. Wessel shows that food truck vendors are critical actors that support local economies and contribute to the public realm while shaping regulatory policy from the bottom up. This lecture appeals to urban scholars studying the contemporary neoliberal city, the public realm, and communication technology and mobility, as well as to urban planners seeking to understand how vendors shape city plans and policies. In addition to this audio, you can watch the video and read the full transcript of the conversation on – while you’re there get caught up on past lectures. Lectures explores the impact of urban planning on our communities and the opportunities to design for greater equity and justice with professor . Cities@Tufts Lectures is produced by Tufts University and with support from Lectures are moderated by Professor Julian Agyeman and organized in partnership with research assistants Amelia Morton and Grant Perry. is our co-producer and audio editor, the original portrait of Jose Richard Aviles was illustrated by Ronna Alexander, and the series is co-produced and hosted by . “Light Without Dark” by is our theme song. /episode/index/show/citiestufts/id/34418800

Reimagining Urban Planning with Jose Richard Aviles 11/12/2024

Reimagining Urban Planning with Jose Richard Aviles Reimagining Urban Planning is a talk based on the monthly webinar series of the same name hosted by the Othering and Belonging Institute at UC Berkeley. This talk openly critiques the ways in which Urban Planners have been trained and the impacts it has had in the ways Planners approach the Land, and the People that inhabit the land. This talk will share the key highlights from the series while also providing examples, shared by the speakers, that get us to an alternative approach to planning. The hope is that this talk will inspire planners to be more critical of how the field currently operates. Jose Richard Aviles is a Transportation Analyst for the Othering and Belonging Institute. As part of the Community Power and Policy Partnerships team, they support government agencies and partners with community organizations by providing trainings, technical assistance, and evaluation support centering lived experience, vision, and self-determination of the communities most impacted by transit inequities. Aviles draws inspiration from their involvement with the Bus Riders Union in Los Angeles and participation in other social justice movements like marriage equality. In addition to this audio, you can watch the video and read the full transcript of the conversation on – while you’re there get caught up on past lectures. Lectures explores the impact of urban planning on our communities and the opportunities to design for greater equity and justice with professor . Cities@Tufts Lectures is produced by Tufts University and with support from Lectures are moderated by Professor Julian Agyeman and organized in partnership with research assistants Amelia Morton and Grant Perry. is our co-producer and audio editor, the original portrait of Jose Richard Aviles was illustrated by Anke Dregnat, and the series is co-produced and hosted by . “Light Without Dark” by is our theme song. /episode/index/show/citiestufts/id/33903617

Urban Environmental Marronage: Connecting Black Ecologies with Charisma Acey 11/04/2024

Urban Environmental Marronage: Connecting Black Ecologies with Charisma Acey Urban Environmental Marronage: Connecting Black Ecologies from Coastal Nigeria to the American South explores how marginalized communities in coastal Nigeria and the American South draw upon historical practices of marronage to create autonomous spaces and combat environmental degradation within cities. Marronage refers to the practices of enslaved Africans who escaped to form free communities in inaccessible terrains. By connecting Black ecologies from Lagos and the Niger Delta to New Orleans and South Carolina, this presentation examines how communities adapt to environmental challenges, preserve cultural heritage, and develop alternative socio-ecological systems as forms of political and ecological empowerment. These contemporary case studies of resistance and resilience reflect the enduring legacies of maroon societies across the Black Atlantic, offering new insights into global struggles for human rights and environmental justice. Charisma Acey is Associate Professor and Arcus Chair in Social Justice and the Built Environment in the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research focuses on environmental justice, urban sustainability, and equitable access to basic services in cities. Dr. Acey's work spans the Americas and Africa, addressing issues such as climate vulnerability, access to clean water and safe sanitation, women's empowerment, and urban agroecology. She currently leads projects on air quality and food justice in California, employing participatory action research to identify inequitable policies impacting vulnerable communities. As Faculty Director of the Berkeley Food Institute and co-founder of the Dellums Clinic to Dismantle Structural Racism at the Institute for Urban and Regional Development, she champions interdisciplinary approaches to urban planning and environmental governance. Dr. Acey holds a Ph.D. in Urban Planning and a Master's in Public Policy from UCLA. She is a UW-Madison Health Equity Leadership Institute Scholar. Her work has been recognized with awards for excellence in community-based scholarship. Dr. Acey's publications appear in journals such as World Development, Landscape and Urban Planning, and The Lancet Global Health In addition to this audio, you can watch the video and read the full transcript of the conversation on – while you’re there get caught up on past lectures. Lectures explores the impact of urban planning on our communities and the opportunities to design for greater equity and justice with professor . Cities@Tufts Lectures is produced by Tufts University and with support from Lectures are moderated by Professor Julian Agyeman and organized in partnership with research assistants Amelia Morton and Grant Perry. is our co-producer and audio editor, the original portrait of Charisma Acey was illustrated by Anke Dregnat, and the series is co-produced and hosted by . “Light Without Dark” by is our theme song. /episode/index/show/citiestufts/id/33781387

Hacking the Archive: The Quest for More Just Urban Futures with Karilyn Crockett 10/23/2024

Hacking the Archive: The Quest for More Just Urban Futures with Karilyn Crockett Hacking the Archive: The Quest for More Just Urban Futures with Karilyn Crockett explores a Boston-based project that gamifies collective memory-driven social research and local knowledge sharing to anchor the intergenerational creation of future urban plans. Hacking the Archive (HTA) is a coalition of two dozen civic, faith-based and archival institutions advancing a novel data gathering and dissemination approach for populations underrepresented in the archive yet overrepresented in land-based battles for urban space. This talk focuses on HTA's current work to examine past and present grassroots strategies for tackling economic justice. Karilyn Crockett’s research focuses on large-scale land use changes in twentieth century American cities and examines the social and geographic implications of structural poverty, racial formations and memory. Karilyn’s book "People before Highways: Boston Activists, Urban Planners, and a New Movement for City Making" (UMASS Press 2018) investigates a 1960s era grassroots movement to halt urban extension of the U.S. interstate highway system and the geographic and political changes in Boston that resulted. In 2019 this book was named one of the “ten best books of the decade” by the Boston Public Library Association of Librarians. Karilyn holds a PhD from the American Studies program at Yale University, a Master of Science in Geography from the London School of Economics, and a Master of Arts and Religion from Yale Divinity School. She has previously served in Boston city government; first, as Director of Economic Policy & Research in the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development and later as the City of Boston's first Chief of Equity, a Cabinet-level position. She is a professor of urban history, public policy and planning at MIT and currently leads the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the Boston Federal Reserve Bank to assess the regional racial wealth gap. In addition to this audio, you can watch the video and read the full transcript of the conversation on – while you’re there get caught up on past lectures. Lectures explores the impact of urban planning on our communities and the opportunities to design for greater equity and justice with professor . Cities@Tufts Lectures is produced by Tufts University and with support from Lectures are moderated by Professor Julian Agyeman and organized in partnership with research assistants Amelia Morton and Grant Perry. is our co-producer and audio editor, the original portrait of Karilyn Crockett was illustrated by Anke Dregnat, and the series is co-produced and hosted by . “Light Without Dark” by is our theme song. /episode/index/show/citiestufts/id/33586187

Urban Mobility for Human Autonomy with Peter Norton 10/10/2024

Urban Mobility for Human Autonomy with Peter Norton Measured by distance and speed, today North Americans move more than ever. Movement, however, is but a means to an end; more movement is not in itself beneficial. Movement is a cost of meeting daily needs, and provided these needs are met, less movement is generally advantageous. Nevertheless, since the 1930s traffic engineers have pursued movement maximization in North American cities as if movement is an end in itself, and even as if movement is in itself freedom. The human costs have included unbearable burdens measurable as financial, health, safety, equitability, livability and environmental costs. Together these burdens impair human autonomy; that is, by constraining people’s choices about where and how to live, they diminish freedom. Automobility, promoted as a deliverer of freedom, has instead imposed car dependency, a kind of unfreedom. Paradoxically, many engineers now pursue so-called “autonomous” (robotic) driving, promising thereby to sustain unsustainable quantities of movement, when the sole worthy end of movement is not machine but human autonomy. To escape the traps that these errors set for us, we must trace them to their origins. Though engineering is defined as applied science, history reveals that the origins and persistence of prevailing traffic engineering principles lie not in scientific research but in power politics, and that such principles have more in common with religious dogmas than with natural laws. Far more practical possibilities await us when we escape the confines these dogmas impose on us and recognize movement as a secondary good that serves us only as it contributes to human autonomy. Peter Norton is an associate professor of history in the Department of Engineering and Society at the University of Virginia. He is a member of the University of Virginia’s Center for Transportation Studies and has been a visiting faculty member at the Technical University of Eindhoven in the Netherlands. Norton is the author of Fighting Traffic: The Dawn of the Motor Age in the American City, and of Autonorama: The Illusory Promise of High-Tech Driving. He is a winner of the Usher Prize of the Society for the History of Technology, and a frequent speaker on the subject of sustainable and equitable urban mobility. In addition to this audio, you can watch the video and read the full transcript of the conversation on – while you’re there get caught up on past lectures. Lectures explores the impact of urban planning on our communities and the opportunities to design for greater equity and justice with professor . Cities@Tufts Lectures is produced by Tufts University and with support from Lectures are moderated by Professor Julian Agyeman and organized in partnership with research assistants Amelia Morton and Grant Perry. is our co-producer and audio editor, the original portrait of Peter Norton was illustrated by Anke Dregnet, and the series is co-produced and hosted by . “Light Without Dark” by is our theme song. /episode/index/show/citiestufts/id/33407752

Social Cooperative Academy: Why social coops offer potential transformation of care and more 06/25/2024

Architects Without Frontiers: A Journey from Divided Cities to Zones of Fragility with Professor Esther Charlesworth 05/16/2024

Consuming the Creative City: Gastrodevelopment in a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy with Eden Kinkaid 04/17/2024

Consuming the Creative City: Gastrodevelopment in a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy with Eden Kinkaid Scholars have recently coined the term “gastrodevelopment” to refer to the leveraging of food culture as a resource and strategy of economic development. Drawing on a case study of Tucson, Arizona – the United States’ first UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy – Kinkaid uses the lens of gastrodevelopment to examine how food culture is transformed into a form of symbolic capital that animates a broader project of urban development. Kinkaid shows how this transformation encodes differentials of value that are racialized and racializing and risk contributing to Tucson’s uneven urban geographies. Kinkaid then turns to community visions of food-based development to imagine alternative trajectories for the project of gastrodevelopment. Dr. Eden Kinkaid (they/them) is a human geographer and social scientist whose work focuses on themes of sustainable and equitable food and agricultural systems, place, race, and development. They have researched these themes in north India and in the U.S. Southwest. In addition to this line of research, they publish on topics of feminist, queer, and trans geographies, geographic theory, creative geographies, and diversity, equity, and inclusion in academia. Their work has been published in Urban Geography, Progress in Human Geography, Transactions of the British Institute of Geographers, The Annals of the American Association of Geographers, Environment and Planning D, and various other journals and books. Eden has served as an editor at Gender, Place, and Culture, The Graduate Journal of Food Studies, and you are here: the journal of creative geography. You can learn more about their work on or by following them on social media @queergeog on Twitter, Instagram, and Bluesky. In addition to this audio, you can watch the video and read the full transcript of their conversation on – while you’re there get caught up on past lectures. Lectures explores the impact of urban planning on our communities and the opportunities to design for greater equity and justice with professor . Cities@Tufts Lectures is produced by Tufts University and with support from and SHIFT Foundation. Lectures are moderated by Professor Julian Agyeman and organized in partnership with research assistants Deandra Boyle and Grant Perry. is our co-producer and audio editor, the original portrait of Karin Bradley was illustrated by Anke Dregnet, and the series is co-produced and hosted by . “Light Without Dark” by is our theme song. /episode/index/show/citiestufts/id/30873643

How Local Governments Can Work with Grassroots Initiatives for Sustainability Transitions 04/03/2024

How Local Governments Can Work with Grassroots Initiatives for Sustainability Transitions In cities across the world grassroots initiatives organize alternative forms of provisioning, e.g. food sharing networks, energy cooperatives and repair cafés. Some of these are recognized by local governments as engines in sustainability transitions. In this talk, I will discuss different ways that local governments interact with, and use, such grassroots initiatives, drawing from case studies in Berlin and Gothenburg. An argument will be made for that we need to reconsider what municipal infrastructure should entail, i.e. not only the traditional infrastructure for transport and waste but also new infrastructure for repairing and sharing. Karin Bradley is Professor of Urban and Regional Studies at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden. Her research concerns planning and policy for sustainability transitions, the role of civil society, alternative economies and justice aspects of transitions. She has been the co-director of the eight-year research programme that engages researchers from different disciplines as well as municipalities, civil society organizations, companies and national authorities in Sweden. She has had several assignments for the Swedish government, including leading a public inquiry on the sharing economy. In addition to this audio, you can watch the video and read the full transcript of their conversation on – while you’re there get caught up on past lectures. Lectures explores the impact of urban planning on our communities and the opportunities to design for greater equity and justice with professor . Cities@Tufts Lectures is produced by Tufts University and with support from and SHIFT Foundation. Lectures are moderated by Professor Julian Agyeman and organized in partnership with research assistants Deandra Boyle and Grant Perry. is our co-producer and audio editor, the original portrait of Karin Bradley was illustrated by Anke Dregnet, and the series is co-produced and hosted by . “Light Without Dark” by is our theme song. /episode/index/show/citiestufts/id/30669378

Reciprocal Relations: The Coevolution Between Planning and Constitutional Rights: The Case of London with Orwa Switat 03/14/2024

Reciprocal Relations: The Coevolution Between Planning and Constitutional Rights: The Case of London with Orwa Switat Minorities in cities worldwide confront disparities, advocating for rights within a dynamic interplay of urban planning and constitutional legal frameworks. How does the coevolution between planning and legal frameworks shape the status of minorities? This lecture will dissect the coevolution of British constitutional rights and the status of minorities in the urban planning of London, post-WWII. It will explore how planning practices embed minority rights, shedding light on the transformation of political and legal frameworks into urban planning, and assessing their impact on state-minority relations. Orwa Switat is a visiting scholar at the Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning at Tufts University. He is a scholar, practitioner, and activist in the realm of state-minority relations in urban planning. He holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. degrees from the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology. His research has critically examined the intersections of urban planning and state-minority relations. Complementing his advanced degrees, he possesses BAs in both Philosophy and Political Science from Haifa University. In addition to his scholarly pursuits, Orwa has dedicated his work to promoting the rights of Palestinian communities in Israel in the context of planning, advising planners and civil society on spatial justice and inclusion. From 2019 to 2023, Orwa served on Haifa's municipal committee for historical preservation, influencing policies to honor and reflect the Arab Palestinian Heritage of the city. In addition to this audio, you can watch the video and read the full transcript of their conversation on – while you’re there get caught up on past lectures. Lectures explores the impact of urban planning on our communities and the opportunities to design for greater equity and justice with professor . Cities@Tufts Lectures is produced by Tufts University and with support from and SHIFT Foundation. Lectures are moderated by Professor Julian Agyeman and organized in partnership with research assistants Deandra Boyle and Muram Bacare. is our co-producer and audio editor, the original portrait of Mark Roseland was illustrated by Anke Dregnet, and the series is co-produced and hosted by . “Light Without Dark” by is our theme song. /episode/index/show/citiestufts/id/30373778

Advancing Urban Planning with the Community Capital Compass with Mark Roseland 03/07/2024

How to Fight a Mega-Jail with Maya Singhal 02/15/2024

Here There Be Dragons: Urban Research Methods with Jess Myers 02/01/2024

Co-Design in Global Development Data Initiatives with Dana R. Thomson 12/14/2023

Infrastructure Apartheid to Liberatory Infrastructures with Maya Elizabeth Carrasquillo 11/15/2023

The Imaginal Cells of the Solidarity Economy: Democratizing Power 11/09/2023

The Imaginal Cells of the Solidarity Economy: Democratizing Power Welcome to the second episode of the Imaginal Cells of the Solidarity Economy: Democratizing Power. This a special series of episodes that we've been sharing over the summer until Cities@Tufts officially resumes for our fourth season in the Fall. Over the course of our lecture series, we’ve talked a lot about the crucial role that community plays in building alternatives to capitalistic models of access, resource distribution and social equity. We are living through a historic moment where the common crises - from climate change to the erosion of democracy, virulent racism and fascism — are constantly emerging and evolving. It’s without blame, and fairly common, to get trapped in a kind of hopelessness that another world is attainable in the face of ever-growing systems of oppression. But we believe two things. Not only that another world is possible, but that it’s often already here. We believe that the world that our planet and everyday people need is often within reach, waiting for us to take hold, take root, take action and to re-shape our everyday lives through radical collaboration, collective activism and a world of care. This week we are joined by Hillary Renick, Kristania De Leon, and Naveen Agrawal to hear about different ways that power is being democratized - in finance, in municipal or community governance, and in recognizing traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) for resource management. Lectures explores the impact of urban planning on our communities and the opportunities to design for greater equity and justice with professor and host . Cities@Tufts Lectures is produced by Tufts University and with support from , and SHIFT Foundation. Lectures are moderated by Professor Julian Agyeman and organized in partnership with research assistant Deandra Boyle. Roame Jasmin is our producer, is our audio editor, the graphic recording was illustrated by Anke Dregnet, and the series is produced and hosted by Tom Llewellyn. “Light Without Dark” by is our theme song and Caitlin McLennon created this episode's graphic. /episode/index/show/citiestufts/id/27562518

Urban Agriculture, Racial and Economic Equity: Action Research for Food and Social Justice with Kristin Reynolds 10/18/2023

Urban Agriculture, Racial and Economic Equity: Action Research for Food and Social Justice with Kristin Reynolds Urban agriculture has a long and diverse history throughout the world. Its health, social, and economic benefits for communities have been the subject of many studies and advocacy efforts seeking recognition of urban food production as a legitimate use of city space and as “real” agriculture. In the US, the past decade has seen policy support for urban food production expand at multiple scales of governance. At the same time, new forms of high-tech, commercial urban agriculture have emerged, often funded through private investment and venture capital. Understanding the implications of these shifts for racial and economic inequity, within the broader US context of social inequality, is important in designing and implementing more socially just urban agriculture policies. In this talk, Kristin Reynolds discusses recent evolutions in urban agriculture practices and policy, their implications for racial and economic equity, and her current work to inform more socially just urban agriculture policy through her Food and Social Justice Action Research Lab. In addition to this audio, you can watch the video and read the full transcript of their conversation on – while you’re there get caught up on past lectures. Sign up for our next lecture on October 25th: "How to Fight a Mega-Jai" presented by Maya Singhal. Lectures explores the impact of urban planning on our communities and the opportunities to design for greater equity and justice with professor and host . Cities@Tufts Lectures is produced by Tufts University and with support from , and SHIFT Foundation. Lectures are moderated by Professor Julian Agyeman and organized in partnership with research assistants Deandra Boyle and Muram Bacare. Roame Jasmin is our producer, is our audio editor, the original portrait of Kristin Reynolds and the graphic recording was illustrated by Anke Dregnet, and the series is produced and hosted by Tom Llewellyn. “Light Without Dark” by is our theme song and Caitlin McLennon created this episode's graphic. /episode/index/show/citiestufts/id/28336094

The Imaginal Cells of the Solidarity Economy: Politics and Policy 09/28/2023

The Imaginal Cells of the Solidarity Economy: Politics and Policy Welcome to the third episode of the Imaginal Cells of the Solidarity Economy: Democratizing Power. This a special series of episodes that we've been sharing over the summer until Cities@Tufts officially resumes for our fourth season in the Fall. We are living through an historic moment where a number of crises-- climate change, growing economic and cultural divide, virulent racism, and the slide toward fascism--are converging. This makes for scary times but also times that are ripe with potential for fundamental system change. As the faith in the status quo is shaken, we're seeing a greater openness to post-capitalist futures such as the solidarity economy. This webinar series on The Imaginal Cells of the Solidarity Economy will showcase the myriad ways that solidarity economy practices are providing models and pathways to build a more cooperative, democratic, equitable, and sustainable world--one in which many worlds fit. This week we are joined by David Cobb, Lydia Lopez, Jyoung Carolyn Park, Kali Akuno, and Petula Hanley to hear about how to use/influence public policy advance individual policies as part of a coherent strategy to democratize the entire economy. The webinar series on The Imaginal Cells of the Solidarity Economy showcases the myriad ways that solidarity economy practices are providing models and pathways to build a more cooperative, democratic, equitable, and sustainable world — one in which many worlds fit. Brought to you by Shareable, Resist & Build's SE Narrative Circle, the U.S. Solidarity Economy Network, and the New Economy Coalition. Don't forget to sign up for the next Cities@Tufts event on October 4th when Kristin Reynolds will present: Lectures explores the impact of urban planning on our communities and the opportunities to design for greater equity and justice with professor and host . Cities@Tufts Lectures is produced by Tufts University and with support from , and SHIFT Foundation. Lectures are moderated by Professor Julian Agyeman and organized in partnership with research assistant Deandra Boyle. Roame Jasmin is our producer, is our audio editor, the graphic recording was illustrated by Anke Dregnet, and the series is produced and hosted by Tom Llewellyn. “Light Without Dark” by is our theme song and Caitlin McLennon created this episode's graphic. /episode/index/show/citiestufts/id/28154756

The Imaginal Cells of the Solidarity Economy: Community Ownership 05/24/2023

The Imaginal Cells of the Solidarity Economy: Community Ownership We have a special series of episodes that we’ll be sharing over the next few months between now and when Cities@Tufts officially resumes for our fourth season in the Fall. Over the course of our lecture series, we’ve talked a lot about the crucial role that community plays in building alternatives to capitalistic models of access, resource distribution and social equity. We are living through a historic moment where the common crises - from climate change to the erosion of democracy, virulent racism and fascism — are constantly emerging and evolving. It’s without blame, and fairly common, to get trapped in a kind of hopelessness that another world is attainable in the face of ever-growing systems of oppression. But we believe two things. Not only that another world is possible, but that it’s often already here. We believe that the world that our planet and everyday people need is often within reach, waiting for us to take hold, take root, take action and to re-shape our everyday lives through radical collaboration, collective activism and a world of care. This week we are joined by some pretty amazing guests as part of the Imaginal Cells of the Solidarity Economy webinar series, giving us some insight about how post-capitalist models of survival and sustainability are constantly being created by communities all over the country, addressing some of the most critical issues we face everyday — such as housing, childcare, food access and sovereignty. We’ll be hearing from Minnie McMahon, of the e, a community-led housing and land trust in Boston. We’ll hear from Mindy Barbakoff of , a worker-owned childcare center in Philadelphia. And we’ll also hear from Amaha Selassie of , a food cooperative in Dayton, Ohio. All Moderated by Steve Dubb of the Lectures explores the impact of urban planning on our communities and the opportunities to design for greater equity and justice with professor and host . Cities@Tufts Lectures is produced by Tufts University and with support from , and SHIFT Foundation. Lectures are moderated by Professor Julian Agyeman and organized in partnership with research assistant Deandra Boyle. Roame Jasmin is our producer, is our audio editor, the graphic recording was illustrated by Anke Dregnet, and the series is produced and hosted by Tom Llewellyn. “Light Without Dark” by is our theme song and Caitlin McLennon created this episode's graphic. /episode/index/show/citiestufts/id/26901558

Co-designing publics: Radical democracy and transformative urbanisms with Aseem Inam 05/03/2023

Co-designing publics: Radical democracy and transformative urbanisms with Aseem Inam Globally, contemporary cities face seemingly insurmountable challenges such as urban inequality, inadequate infrastructure, climate crisis, and increasingly, threats to democracy. In the face of such challenges, the Dr. Aseem Inam introduces the concept of "co-designing publics" by examining what lies at the potent intersection of the public realm and informal urbanisms. He defines the public realm as interconnected spatial and political networks of public spaces that weave a city together, while informal urbanisms are the transactional conditions of ambiguity that exist between what is acceptable and what is unacceptable in cities. At their intersection are publics, who never simply exist because they are always created. In fact, publics are co-designed [i.e. co-created in inventive and multifarious ways] around common concerns or desire through volitional inquiry and action. He contextualizes these discussions by paying particular attention to the cities of the global south, because place matters in shaping urban thinking and practice. There is an increasing interest in thinking and practicing from cities of the global south rather than just about them. He then describes how these ideas are being further investigated through case studies in cites around the world and articulated through interactive events in the Co-Designing Publics International Research Network. He concludes with thoughts on the profound implications of co-designing publics for radical democracy and transformative urbanisms. In addition to this audio, you can watch the video and read the full transcript of their presentation on – while you’re there get caught up on past lectures. This is the last episode of this semester — but don't fear, in the break we'll be sharing a new series focused on The Imaginal Cells of the Solidarity Economy which will showcase the myriad ways that solidarity economy practices are providing models and pathways to build a more cooperative, democratic, equitable, and sustainable world--one in which many worlds fit. This series is co-presented by the Resist & Build's SE Narrative Circle, the U.S. Solidarity Economy Network, the New Economy Coalition, and Shareable — the first event focusing on Community Ownership is happening live on Wednesday, May 17th at 2pm EST. Click to register for a free ticket. We’ll also share the recording of the live event here on this feed — so stay tuned if you miss the event or want to listen to it again. Lectures explores the impact of urban planning on our communities and the opportunities to design for greater equity and justice with professor and host . Cities@Tufts Lectures is produced by Tufts University and with support from , and SHIFT Foundation. Lectures are moderated by Professor Julian Agyeman and organized in partnership with research assistants Deandra Boyle and Caitlin McLennan. Roame Jasmin is our producer, is our audio editor, the original portrain of Aseem Inaam was illustrated by Caitlin McLennan, the graphic recording was illustrated by Anke Dregnet, and the series is produced and hosted by Tom Llewellyn. “Light Without Dark” by is our theme song and Caitlin McLennon created this episode's graphic. /episode/index/show/citiestufts/id/26663079

Results: Getting Beyond Politics to Get Important Work Done with Steve Kadish and Barbara Kellerman 04/19/2023

Results: Getting Beyond Politics to Get Important Work Done with Steve Kadish and Barbara Kellerman Distilled into a four-step framework, Results is the much-needed implementation guide for anyone in public service, as well as for leaders and managers in large organizations hamstrung by bureaucracy and politics. With a broad range of examples, Baker, a Republican, and Kadish, a Democrat, show how to move from identifying problems to achieving results in a way that bridges divides instead of exacerbating them. They show how government can be an engine of positive change and an example of effective operation, not just a hopeless bureaucracy. Results is not only about getting things done, but about renewing people's faith in public service. Demonstrating that government can work, is vital to ensuring the future of our democracy. The goal of this book is to demonstrate just that! This talk will invite Steve Kadish and Dr. Kellerman to discuss the book and other relevant insights to collaborative governance and change-making. In addition to this audio, you can watch the video and read the full transcript of their conversation on – while you’re there get caught up on past lectures. Lectures explores the impact of urban planning on our communities and the opportunities to design for greater equity and justice with professor and host . Cities@Tufts Lectures is produced by Tufts University and with support from , and SHIFT Foundation. Lectures are moderated by Professor Julian Agyeman and organized in partnership with research assistants Deandra Boyle and Caitlin McLennon. Roame Jasmin is our producer, is our audio editor, the original portrain of Yasminah Beebeejaun was illustrated by Caitlin McLennan, the graphic recording was illustrated by Anke Dregnet, and the series is produced and hosted by Tom Llewellyn. “Light Without Dark” by is our theme song and Caitlin McLennon created this episode's graphic. /episode/index/show/citiestufts/id/26568711

Whose diversity? Race, space, and planning with Yasminah Beebeejaun 04/11/2023

Whose diversity? Race, space, and planning with Yasminah Beebeejaun European cities have increasingly highlighted diversity as a marker of their progressive status. A growing field of research argues that “super-diverse” neighborhoods exemplify a normalization of ethnic and racial difference as a positive facet of everyday life. However, contemporary manifestations of urban diversity cannot be disentangled easily from the European colonial legacy that underlies a series of racial and spatial imaginaries. In this talk Yasminah Beebeejaun argues that the claimed reconfiguration of European cities as sites of normative diversity obscures the ongoing epistemological framing of Europe as white. Turning specifically to British cities Professor Beebeejaun will illustrate how colonial racial narratives underpinned postwar urban planning and development and had profound consequences for the racialization of urban space. Professor Beebeejaun argues that the European planning discipline must engage in a much more fuller engagement with its own colonial and racial history in order to reconceptulize what progressive urban diversity might look like. In addition to this audio, you can watch the video and read the full transcript of their conversation on – while you’re there get caught up on past lectures. Lectures explores the impact of urban planning on our communities and the opportunities to design for greater equity and justice with professor and host . Cities@Tufts Lectures is produced by Tufts University and with support from , and SHIFT Foundation. Lectures are moderated by Professor Julian Agyeman and organized in partnership with research assistants Deandra Boyle and Caitlin McLennon. Roame Jasmin is our producer, is our audio editor, the original portrain of Yasminah Beebeejaun was illustrated by Caitlin McLennan, the graphic recording was illustrated by Anke Dregnet, and the series is produced and hosted by Tom Llewellyn. “Light Without Dark” by is our theme song and Caitlin McLennon created this episode's graphic. /episode/index/show/citiestufts/id/26469534

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