Dear EGSG members:
Just a reminder -
The Economic Geography Specialty Group, along with the Cultural and
Political Ecology Specialty Group and the Socialist and Critical Geography
Specialty Group, is co-sponsoring a plenary lecture by Andrew Ross,
Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis at New York University. The
lecture is entitled "The Economics of Sustainability" and relates to his
new book
"Bird on Fire," which looks at issues of sustainability and environmental
justice in Phoenix.
The lecture will be held on Monday, February 27, 2012, from 2:40 p.m. to
4:20 p.m. in New York Ballroom West, Third Floor, Sheraton Hotel.
More information (including an abstract for the presentation) is provided
below.
Hope to see many of you there.
Best,
Norma (Chair, EGSG) & Kris (Vice-Chair, EGSG)
-
"The Economics Of Sustainability"
Monday, February 27, 2012, 2:40 p.m. to 4:20 p.m., New York Ballroom West,
Third Floor, Sheraton
Chair/Moderator: Susan Parnell, University of Cape Town
Presenter: Andrew Ross, New York University
Abstract: Today, there is a thriving “sustainable cities” movement all
over the developed world, and in many developing countries. Mayors toot
their horns whenever their cities move up in the national sustainability
rankings, and there is a race afoot right now to claim the title of
America’s greenest city. Even without a decisive shift in energy supply,
more compact patterns of urban development can deliver a jumbo boost to
decarbonization. But for cities to became part of the solution, they need
to avoid being part of the problem. If their green policymaking is aimed
only at the more affluent populations, then the most likely future lies in
a state of urban “eco-apartheid.” Andrew Ross’s lecture draws on his field
research in Phoenix, Arizona, arguably the “world’s least sustainable
city.” In his profile of the metro region’s environmental challenges, and
the political obstacles to addressing them, he will argue that the key to
urban sustainability lies less in technical fixes than in social remedies
directed at the transforming the geography of class inequalities.
Sustainability plans should take as a baseline the needs of the most
vulnerable populations, and City Hall should approach sustainability more
as a matter of civil rights than as a tool for development or cost
avoidance.
--
Norma Rantisi, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Geography, Planning & Environment
Concordia University
1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd. West
Montreal, Quebec H3G 1M8
Tel.: 514-848-2424, ext. 2018
Fax: 514-848-2032
E-mail: nrant...@alcor.concordia.ca OR norma.rant...@gmail.com
Webpage: http://gpe.concordia.ca/faculty-and-staff/nrantisi/
