Urban Political Podcast
Society & Culture
About
The **Urban Political** delves into contemporary urban issues with activists, scholars and policy-makers from around the world. Providing informed views, state-of-the-art knowledge, and unusual insights, the podcast aims to advance our understanding of urban environments and how we might make them more just and democratic. The **Urban Political** provides a new forum for reflection on bridging urban activism and scholarship, where regular features offer snapshots of pressing issues and new publications, allowing multiple voices of scholars and activists to enter into a transnational debate directly. Hosted and produced by: Ross Beveridge (University of Glasgow) Markus Kip (Georg-Simmel-Center for Metropolitan Studies - Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin)Mais Jafari (Technische Universität Dortmund)Nitin Bathla (ETH-Zürich) Julio Paulos (Université de Lausanne)Nicolas Goez (Bauhaus-Universität Weimar)Talja Blokland (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin)Hanna Hilbrandt (Universität Züri
Episodes
- 107 - Tenant Politics and Urban Political Economy
Within the last years four books have been published exploring the political economy of the private rental sector, with a focus on inequality and resistance. This episode would bring together all four authors (see below) to explore the pol…
- 106 - Cities and Geopolitics I
A mini-series by Urban Political Podcast in collaboration with the Second Cold War Observatory and Urban Geography Journal Additional Links Schindler, Seth, et al. "The second cold war: US-China competition for centrality in infrastructure…
- 105 -Transforming Local Statehood II: Progressive Possibilities?
While the first episode on the transformations of the local state focussed on current authoritarian takeover in different European contexts, this episode will zoom into the progressive possibilities of local state transformations. The epis…
- 104 - Transforming Local Statehood I: Towards Authoritarian Takeover?
Across Europe, local states are in a dire predicament, experiencing the consequences of austerity cuts, shortage of staff as well as a lack of trust in (local) government. Overlapping crises such as climate change, military conflicts and d…
- 103 – Beyond Neoliberal Urbanism?
Authoritarian Urbanism Series Are we seeing the emergence of a new conjuncture for urbanism? The final part of our mini series asks whether authoritarian neoliberalism has created the conditions for a more illiberal and distinct type of ur…
- 102 - Authoritarian Practices in Urban Government
Authoritarian Urbanism Series Today it seems fairly obvious to say that urban government has become more authoritarian – there is vastly increased levels of surveillance, violent and militarised policing of dissent and the targeting of mig…
- 101 – Authoritarian Populism and the City
Authoritarian Urbanism Series Across the world, a rightward populist turn is reshaping politics, everyday life, and the spaces we inhabit. This series examines the rise of authoritarian urbanism born from the convergence of state power, mi…
- 100 – Looking Back, Looking Forward
6 Years of the Urban Political Podcast This episode is our 100th! We are delighted that we have reached this landmark and thank all our listeners and contributors since we started the Urban Political in 2019. To mark the occasion of this 1…
- 99 - The Impossible Possibility of 'Home'
For a Liberatory Politics of Home What does it mean to be at 'home', when 'home' is the expression of structural forms of violence, at the intersection of anthropocentrism, patriarchy, heteronormativity and racial capitalism? As the COVID-…
- 98 - (Re)Politicising Housing
Where is Urban Politics? This is our second episode in collaboration with the ‘Where is Urban Politics?’ hybrid seminar series hosted by the University of Groningen in the Netherlands between 2024-2026. This episode ponders urgent issues o…
- 97 - In Loving Memory of Mark Saunders
We dedicate this episode to the extraordinary urban filmmaker and tireless social-justice advocate, Mark Saunders, who passed away recently at the age of 68. Mark’s powerful contributions to documentary filmmaking, particularly through Des…
- 96 - Digital Cities and Democracy
In this episode Ross Beveridge, co-founder of our Podcast, and guests discuss the topic of digital cities and democracy. Digitalisation is transforming cities, urbanization and urban life – but how is it changing urban politics? What issue…
- 95 - The Urban Crisis at Night: Engaging the Polycrisis after Dark
Urban Polycrisis Series To what extent does the current polycrisis intensify in urban settings during nighttime hours? Night lives are already characterized by precarity, urban inequalities, deeply seeded health and wellbeing concerns and…
- 94 - Urban Racial Politics in Cartagena, Colombia
Urban Polycrisis Series This episode will be conducted in Spanish, in line with the podcast's aim to de-center urban knowledge production by showcasing distinctive urban perspectives, and linguistic viewpoints. We are thrilled to introduce…
- 93 - Normative Insurgency: Responses to the Urban Polycrisis from the Global South
Polycrisis Series This new Polycrisis series will explore the complex set of protracted, interconnected, and mutually reinforcing crises that disproportionately affect urban centers and urban populations, ranging from housing, democracy, t…
- 92 - Radically Legal Politics and Housing Expropriation in Berlin
Deutsche Wohnen & Co. Enteignen This episode is a talk by Joanna Kusiak at the Think&Drink Colloquium of Georg-Simmel-Centre for Urban Studies at Humboldt University Berlin. It gives insights into her new book Radically Legal: Berlin Const…
- 91 - The Suburban Frontier
Middle-Class Construction in Dar es Salaam African cities are under construction. Beyond the urban redevelopment schemes and large-scale infrastructure projects reconfiguring central city skylines, urban residents are putting their resourc…
- 90 - Looking Back at Eight Years of Municipalist Government in Barcelona
The movement-party Barcelona en Comú In this episode, we reflect on the rise, evolution, and legacy of Barcelona en Comú, the emblematic movement-party that governed the city of Barcelona from 2015 to 2023. Joined by long-time activist and…
- 89 - Book Presentation: Turkish Muslim Women in Berlin
Navigating Boundaries in the City Kulkul presents her ethnographic work with Turkish Muslim women in Berlin as evidence that community is not an entity but is produced by instrumentalizing specific forms of identification and boundary-maki…
- 88 - In Conversation with Heather Dorries (The Urban Lives of Property Series V)
The Urban Lives of Property Series In this episode of The Urban Lives of Property, Markus Kip and Hanna Hilbrandt speak with Heather Dorries, about the intersections of settler colonialism and racial capitalism in urban property regimes. D…
- 87 - Infrastructures of Urban Citizenship
With Examples from the UK, Lebanon and Germany This talk focuses on the role of public services in delineating the boundaries of belonging and possibilities of participation in cities. Drawing on the notion of 'infrastructural citizenship'…
- 86 - Book Review: Concrete City
Material Flows and Urbanization in West Africa Concrete City: Material Flows and Urbanization in West Africa delivers a theoretically informed, ethnographic exploration of the African urban world through the life of concrete. Emblematic of…
- 85 - Authoritarian Urbanism in Eurasia
Examples from Russia, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan This episode is part of our Think&Drink Series in collaboration with the Georg-Simmel-Centre for Urban Studies working with the Humboldt University Berlin. Today’s speaker is Andrei Semenov,…
- 84 - How Cities Can Transform Democracy
Urban Political x Groningen University: Where Is Urban Politics? This is the first seminar in the series 'Where is Urban Politics?' a hybrid seminar series hosted by the University of Groningen, in the academic year 2024-2025. For more inf…
- 83 - Book Presentation: Dithering for the Common Good
Productive misunderstandings in cooperative urban development This is a new episode from our Think&Drink series in collaboration with the Georg-Simmel-Centre for Urban Studies and the Humboldt University Berlin. Co-operative urban developm…
- 82 - Book Review Roundtable: Infrastructural Times
Temporality and the Making of Global Urban Worlds Whether waiting for the train or planning the future city, infrastructure orders—and depends on—multiple urban temporalities. This agenda-setting volume disrupts conventional notions of tim…
- 81 - Urban Political x Think & Drink: Maroš Krivy.
Valuing indeterminacy: Terrain vague, temporary use and the production of urban expertise in Barcelona and Berlin. This is the first episode of a new series from Urban Political. In collaboration with the Georg Simmel Center for Urban Stud…
- 80 - Spatial Planning in Israel/Palestine and the Gaza War
In this episode, we explore the role of land policies and spatial planning in the Israel-Palestine conflict. Our two guests, Oren Yiftachel and Orwa Switat, discuss the historical context of the conflict, focusing on how settler colonialis…
- 79 - Not in my Gayborhood!
Gay Neighborhoods and the Rise of the Vicarious Citizen In this episode, we are discussing Theodore Greene ’s latest book, Not in my Gayborhood! Gay neighborhoods and the rise of the vicarious citizen , published by Columbia University Pre…
- 78 - Book Review: Waste and the City
Author: Colin McFarlane, Critics: Vanesa Castan Broto and Julia Wesely Our Guests: Vanesa Castan Broto is a Professor of Climate Urbanism at the Urban Institute, University of Sheffield where she takes a feminist perspective on questions o…
- Episode 77 - Post-Socialist Infrastructure
In this episode we talk about garages, trams and trolleybuses! Our guests for this episode, Tauri Tuvikene and Wladimir Sgibnev, help us think about post-socialist mobility in terms of continuities and ruptures. Using examples from Estonia…
- Episodio 76 - En conversación con Clara Salazar (The Urban Lives of Property Series IV)
Ejidos y asentamientos autogestionados en Mexico In this inaugural Spanish-language episode of the Urban Political Podcast, Clara Salazar delves into the history and concept of the ejidos—collective forms of land ownership introduced by th…
- Episode 75 – Book Review Roundtable: Lively Cities: Reconfiguring Urban Ecology
Lively Cities departs from conventions of urban studies to argue that cities are lived achievements forged by a multitude of entities—human and nonhuman—that make up the material politics of city making. Generating fresh conversations betw…
- In Conversation with Jean-David Gerber (The Urban Lives of Property Series III)
Property, Planning and Institutional Power: A view from Switzerland This episode of the Urban Lives of Property Series expands discussions geographically and conceptually: Our guest in this episode, Jean-David Gerber, helps us think proper…
- the Far Right and the City
With the research network Territorialisations of the Radical Right (Terra-R). Tune in for our new episode on the far-right and the city! In this discussion, members of the Terra-R (Territorialisations of the Radical Right) network examine…
- Rent Strike Series Episode 3
The third in an ongoing series hosted by Mathilde Lind Gustavussen This is episode three of the Rent Strike Series, focusing on the Veritas Tenants Association’s ongoing multibuilding rent strike in San Francisco to demand a say in the ter…
- Cosmopolitan Solidarity
A talk on Hope, Affection, and Welcoming the 'Other' To live in the age of precarity is a tolling, everyday struggle. It erodes one's strength to carry on, live another day, and keep the hope for a modicum of prosperity due to come in some…
- Property Rights Versus Tenants in Poland
Beata Siemieniako on the restitution of housing and tenants' struggles Unregulated restitution of property to prewar owners (or rather their legal successors) remains a major source of conflict over housing in Poland, most notably in Warsa…
- Rent Strike Series Episode 2
The second in an ongoing series hosted by Mathilde Lind Gustavussen. This is episode two of the Rent Strike Series, focusing on the Veritas Tenants Association’s ongoing multibuilding rent strike in San Francisco to demand a say in the ter…
- Book Review Roundtable: Against the Commons: A Radical History of Urban Planning
Against the Commons underscores how urbanization shapes the social fabric of places and territories, lending awareness to the impact of planning and design initiatives on working-class communities and popular strata. Projecting history int…
- Rent Strike Series Episode 1
the Veritas Tenants Association’s (VTA) in San Francisco Episode description: This is the first episode of the Rent Strike Series from Urban Political, a multi-episode series about the Veritas Tenants Association’s (VTA) on-going rent stri…
- Book Review Roundtable: How Cities Can Transform Democracy
Ross Beveridge, Philippe Koch and their critics We live in an urban age. It is well known that urbanization is changing landscapes, built environments, social infrastructures and everyday lives across the globe. But urbanization is also ch…
- Book Review Roundtable: Migrants and Machine Politics
Adam Auerbach and his critics As the Global South rapidly urbanizes, millions of people have migrated from the countryside to urban slums, which now house one billion people worldwide. The transformative potential of urbanization hinges on…
- In Conversation with Vera Smirnova (The Urban Lives of Property Series II)
Thinking about Appropriation, Dispossession and Expropriation in Theory and Practice In this second part of the series Urban Lives of Property, Hanna and Markus talk to Vera Smirnova, a human and political geographer to discuss property an…
- Russian Academia and Urban Activism in Times of War: Insights from St. Petersburg
Conversation with Oleg Pachenkov Meet urban scholar Oleg Pachenkov who left Russia few weeks after the invasion of Ukraine. Markus speaks with him about his personal and professional trajectory as a critical scholar bringing him to Berlin.…
- In Conversation with Nick Blomley (The Urban Lives of Property Series I)
Thinking about Appropriation, Dispossession and Expropriation in Theory and Practice This podcast series explores the "life of property" in urban theory and practice. In conversations with scholars who have led the way in property debates,…
- Are Community Land Trusts Transformative?
Community land trusts are proliferating across the globe, promoted as a potential solution to the ever-worsening affordable housing crisis. CLTs provide a mechanism for decommodification, collective ownership, and community control; howeve…
- On Peripheralisation
A discussion with Shubhra Gururani, Christian Schmid, Michael Lukas, Giulia Torino, Metaxia Markaki, and Faiq Mari How do “peripheries” form? And how does urbanization generate processes of peripheralization? Today, urban research is incre…
- Inside the Woman Life Freedom Movement in Iran
Reflections from urban scholar-activists in Tehran Listen to this gripping account from the current „Woman Life Freedom“ movement in Iran and its impact on cities and their inhabitants. The movement was sparked by the killing of Mahsa Jina…
- Forums of Discussion: sub\urban - journal for critical urban research
Ross speaks with Gala Nettelbladt and Nina Gribat Having just celebrated the 10th anniversary of the important German-language journal for critical urban research, Ross speaks with sub\urban editorial members Gala Nettelbladt and Nina Grib…