Community-led mapping and enumerations are powerful tools to return power and democracy into the hands of the urban poor. Marcus Tudehope sets out twelve reasons why you and the communities you work within should embark upon an enumeration of your own.
Global urban policy and quantitative research are converging on a single conclusion: that spatial planning of new urban expansion areas is one of the most important tasks to make urbanisation sustainable.
Another shack fire broke out in Cape Town last month, killing one woman and affecting 1,500 residents. Andrew Fleming reports on the City's response, residents' attitudes, and recent initiatives that may alleviate the problem.
Slum neighbourhoods are teeming with industry and commerce, yet the policy sphere still tends to treat them as residential spaces alone. What are the consequences of this misconception, and is it time to invoke a right to space, not just of housing?
Marcus Tudehope recounts his first-hand impressions of the San Roque community in Quezon City, where 25,000 residents have been battling to remain in the city.
The Global Urbanist is an online magazine reviewing urban affairs and urban development issues in cities throughout the developed and developing world.
Its readers are drawn from the urban policy and international development sectors, and include urban planners, officers in local, national or international government agencies, civil society leaders, and researchers.