Editor’s Note:
Shareable is partnering with Tufts University on this special series hosted by professor Julian Agyeman (Co-chair of Shareable’s Board) and Cities@Tufts. Initially designed for Tufts students, faculty, and alumni, the colloquium has been opened up to the public with the support of Shareable, and The Kresge Foundation.
Cities@Tufts Lectures explores the impact of urban planning on our communities and the opportunities to design for greater equity and justice.
Register to participate in future Cities@Tufts events here.
Below is the summary, audio, and video from a presentation on November 17, 2021, “From Urban Resilience to Climate Justice” with Kian Goh.
Kian Goh’s new book Form and Flow: The Spatial Politics of Urban Resilience and Climate Justice, examines the politics around climate change response strategies in three cities and the mobilization of grassroots activists to fight the perceived injustices and oversights of these plans.
In this presentation, Goh explores initiatives such as Rebuild By Design in New York, the Giant Sea Wall masterplan in Jakarta, and Rotterdam Climate Proof, and discovers competing narratives, including community resiliency in Brooklyn and grassroots activism in the informal “kampungs” of Jakarta. Looking through the lenses of urban design and socioecological spatial politics, she reveals how contested visions of the future city are produced and gain power.
About the presenter
Kian Goh is Assistant Professor of Urban Planning at the University of California, Los Angeles, and Associate Faculty Director of the UCLA Luskin Institute on Inequality and Democracy. She researches urban ecological design, spatial politics, and social mobilization in the context of climate change and global urbanization. Dr. Goh’s current research investigates the spatial politics of urban climate change responses, with fieldwork sites in cities in North America, Southeast Asia, and Europe.
More broadly, her research interests include urban theory, urban design, environmental planning, and urban political ecology. As a professional architect, she cofounded design firm SUPER-INTERESTING! and has practiced with Weiss/Manfredi and MVRDV. She received a PhD in Urban and Environmental Planning from MIT, and a Master of Architecture from Yale University. Dr. Goh is the author of the book Form and Flow: The Spatial Politics of Urban Resilience and Climate Justice (MIT Press 2021). Other recent publications include articles in Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Journal of the American Planning Association, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Urban Studies, and Annals of the American Association of Geographers.
Listen to “From Urban Resilience to Climate Justice“ on the Cities@Tufts Podcast (or on the app of your choice):
