Caroline Newton on "Just Space"

10/24/22 • 28 min

This session gives a definition of spatial justice and explores the notion of the commons as a tool to understand distributive, procedural, and intergenerational justice. Social Justice is undoubtedly one of the greatest challenges of our times, as rampant inequality erodes the fabric of our societies everywhere, undermining trust in governments, leading to violence and extremism and eating at the very core of democracy. Growing inequality, socio-spatial fragmentation and lack of access to public goods are threats to the sustainability of our cities, especially when we consider sustainability in its three fundamental dimensions (social, economic and environmental). But when discussing how social justice takes place in urban spaces, we use the term SPATIAL JUSTICE, because it allows us to focus on the spatial dimension of the distribution of the burdens and benefits of urban development, and on the manner this distribution is managed. This management happens through formal institutions, such as planning systems, but also through informal institutions and practices, such as informal agreements and cultural attitudes towards urban space. Spatial Justice is a relatively new concept that focuses on mainly two ‘types’ of justice: distributive justice and procedural justice. On one hand, distributive justice is sought through the creation, fair allocation of and access to public goods, resources, and services throughout the city.

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Previous Episode

Mariana Fix on "Commodification & Financialization of the City"

At this episode we have Professor Mariana Fix from the School of Architecture and Urbanism of the University of Sao Paulo. Mariana talks to us about the "Commodification & Financialization of the City". Mariana Fix is the author of the books “Partners in Exclusion” (Parceiros da exclusão) and “São Paulo, Global City” (São Paulo, Cidade Global), both published in Brazil. She holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Campinas, a master’s degree in Sociology from the University of São Paulo and she is also an architect. She was IIAS Re-Theorizing Housing as Architecture Research Fellow and was a visiting research scholar at CUNY’s Graduate Centre as an Urban Studies Foundation fellow. She is a member of the Housing and Human Settlements Laboratory at FAU-USP, and has been working with Right to the City movements for several years.

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Next Episode

"Housing as a Human Right" with Leilani Farha

Today we have with us Leilani Farha, speaking to us from Canada. Leilani was UN special rapporteur for the right to housing and is now director of SHIFT, a large NGO based in Canada that fights for and promotes the right to dignified housing. Leilani will talk more about the SHIFT, but it is important to highlight their philosophy. In their own words: “THE SHIFT recognizes housing as a human right, not a commodity or an extractive industry. The Shift restores the understanding of housing as home, challenging the ways financial actors undermine the right to housing. Using a human rights framework, The Shift provokes action to end homelessness, unaffordability, and evictions globally”. https://www.make-the-shift.org

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