How the Just Cities Project is Using 3D Modeling to Co-Design Smart Cities in Kenya | Titus Kaloki

What makes a city truly smart? Or just? The answer lies with the people.

In this episode, we explore the human-centric side of Smart Cities with our guest Titus Kaloki from the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Kenya office. Through their Just Cities Project, Titus is on a mission to make cities both smart and just, leveraging technology to put people at the center of urban planning.

Titus and his team have been leveraging an innovative software called Urban Collective Design Environment (U_CODE) to achieve an 85% participation rate in their Just Cities Project in the KMC informal settlement in Nakuru City, Kenya. This process brings together local government, urban planners, and citizens to co-design the future of the city using 3D modelling software.

Join us as we dive into how this approach results in community-informed plans that conform to urban guidelines and zoning while saving time, money, and reducing frustration for all parties involved.

Key insights from the episode include:

• The core principles of Smart Cities and how to make sure they remain inclusive and just
• The foundational elements of Just Cities and the opportunities and challenges of making them a reality
• How to use technology like U_CODE to enhance citizen participation and engagement in urban planning
• Insights and advice on applying these principles and technologies in other urban contexts

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Guest: Titus Kaloki

Titus Kaloki is a social justice champion with a keen focus on realizing just urbanization. He currently leads the Just Cities & Politics department at the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Kenya office and has experience in enabling urban actors resolve challenges to provision and access to public goods and services in urban areas. He loves reading, travelling, community service and having a good laugh with friends!

Learn more: LinkedIn 

Timestamps

• Forthcoming

Show Notes

• Contextualizing the Smart City in Africa: Balancing Human-Centered and Techno-Centric Perspectives for Smart Urban Performance
• Eko City Atlantic
• Friedrich Ebert Foundation
• Kenya Vision 2030
• Nakuru Vision 2050
• Practical Guide to Transformative Change Making
• Smart City Kigali
• The Just City by Susan S. Fainstein | Hardcover | Cornell University Press
• U_CODE — WISSENSARCHITEKTUR
• Learn More about U_CODE: Localising Participation Tools | Democracy Technologies 

Acknowledgements

Sponsorships

This episode is co-sponsored by the University of Toronto School of Cities and the Department of Geography and Planning. 

Support

• Music Producer: Imany Lambropoulos
• Podcast Host and Graphic Designer: Alexandra Lambropoulos

Stay in the loop!

If you would like to be interviewed, have an interesting idea to share for an episode, or have any feedback on the podcast, please email at hello[at]urbanlimitrophe.com or DM on social media!

If you enjoy the show, please share it with your family, friends, Zoologist, Zipline Instructor, VZero Waste Coordinator ... and leave a review! 

Make sure to subscribe to the newsletter and follow the podcast on Instagram to stay in the loop for upcoming episodes and opportunities to engage with guests and the show.

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Urban Limitrophe Featured on Elite Africa Project's Database!

 

I am excited to announce that the Urban Limitrophe podcast is now featured on the Elite Africa Project's database! This is a fantastic opportunity to reach a wider audience and share more African-related content, helping to challenge stereotypes and misinformation about the continent.

About the Elite Africa Project

The Elite Africa Project's mission is to challenge academic and public perceptions of African elites as grasping and self-interested—a framing that perpetuates negative depictions of the continent and its peoples and draws on a simplistic understanding of power and how it is wielded.

Check Out the Elite Africa Project's Resources

I encourage everyone to explore the Elite Africa Project's extensive database, which features a wealth of resources, podcasts, and articles focused on African-related content. This platform is a valuable tool for anyone looking to gain a deeper understanding of the complexities and diversity of the African continent.

Accessing this information is more important than ever, as it helps counteract the misinformation and stereotypes that often dominate discussions about Africa. By engaging with the content on the Elite Africa Project's database, you can contribute to a more informed and balanced narrative about Africa and its peoples.

Visit the Elite Africa Project

To learn more and access the database, visit: www.eliteafricaproject.org.

Thank you for your continued support of Urban Limitrophe. Together, we can promote a more accurate and positive understanding of Africa and its contributions to urban planning and innovation.

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How Escrevivências Challenge Urban Planning Norms: Afro-Brazilian Communities’ Strategies for Reclaiming the Right to the City with Mayara Almeida de Paula

What if the true architects of our cities are not the government officials or urban planners, but the communities who live in them? In this episode, we dive deep into a provocative question: When governments fail to provide essential services like water and electricity, and communities step up to fill the gaps, who define the future of urban development?

We journey to Brazil to unravel the story of the 2001 City Statute, a groundbreaking piece of legislation aimed at making cities more equitable. This innovative law, born from decades of activism and aimed at redistributing urban resources, has struggled with implementation challenges. My special guest, Mayara Almeida de Paula, a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto and an expert in urban planning, will share her insights on how race, gender, and urban policies impact the lives of Black women in Brazil and how these factors either support or restrict their right to the city.

Key insights from the episode include:

• Approaches to reparative planning in diverse contexts
• Technologies of resistance and healing used by Black communities, particularly Black women, in response to state neglect
• Incorporating escrevivências (counter-narratives) into urban research and practice
• Key insights from Mayara's award-winning bachelor's thesis and documentary
• The enshrinement of the "Right to the City" in Brazil's national legislation through the 2001 City Statute
• Recommendations of other theorists to enrich city-building research, practice, and policy-making
• And much more!

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You can listen to the podcast on Spotify | Podchaser | Stitcher | Amazon Music | RSS | Apple Podcasts 

Guest: Mayara Almeida de Paula

Mayara is a Brazilian architect and urbanist who holds a master's degree in architecture and urban planning. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Planning at the University of Toronto and in her research, she explores the interplay between race, gender and urban planning. 

Learn more: https://linktr.ee/mayarapaula

Timestamps

• 06:10 | Can you please introduce yourself and share a bit about who you are and the work that you do?
• 11:11 | Could you give us a glimpse into what life is like in the city of Maceió and what inspired you to delve into this topic?
• 18:43 | Could you elaborate on some key findings from your research and documentary?
• 26:01 | Can you provide an overview of your master's thesis titled 'Counter-colonialist Writings in Western-World Spatialities of Black Women,' including the technologies of resistance and healing used by the women you researched?
• 30:59 | Your thesis centers around the practice of “Escrevivências” or ‘counter-narratives’ coined by Conceição Evaristo. What are “Escrevivências” and why is taking a more storytelling-based approach to research, particularly around city-building, urban planning and architecture, important?
• 34:03 | What advice would you offer to others whether they are researchers or not, interested in adopting similar approaches in their work?
• 35:43 | Can you share insights from your PhD research regarding the agency of Black communities in city-building? How do Black women and individuals in urban neighbourhoods contribute to shaping the urban landscape, and what strategies do they employ (i.e. psychological and healing techniques)?
• 44:12 | How do Black women/Black people, in general, resist unjust urban policies and practices, and how can those listening actively participate in creating the ideal city envisioned by the women in your documentary (or their own version of an ideal city)?
• 47:06 | What are some other key considerations or reparative tools that planners should take into account to ensure that the voices and needs of marginalized communities are central to city planning initiatives?
• 48:53 | What’s next for you?
• 50:17 | How can people get in contact with you or learn more about your work or get involved?

Show Notes

• Antônio Bispo dos Santos (Nêgo Bispo)
• Conceição Evaristo
• Escrevivências 
• Environmental Racism
• Le droit à la ville by Henri Lefebvre
• Quilombola
• Right to the City by David Harvey
• Ruth Wilson Gilmore
• Theories I was referring to:
• World- Systems Theory
• Dependency Theory
• Mayara’s Award-Winning Bachelor’s Thesis: Os melhores trabalhos de conclusão de curso em 2019 | ArchDaily Brasil
• Mayara's Master's Thesis: Universidade Federal da Bahia: Escrevivências contra-colonialistas: em espacialidades Ocidente-mundo de mulheres negras
• Mayara’s Documentary:  Análise Interseccional da Vida Urbana: Cidade Ideal
• The City Statute of Brazil: A Commentary
• The Right to the City: Theory and Practice in Brazil by Abigail Friendly
• What Is The Right to the City?

Acknowledgements

Sponsorships

This episode is co-sponsored by the University of Toronto School of Cities and the Department of Geography and Planning. 

The School of Cities "convenes urban-focused researchers, educators, students, practitioners and the general public to explore and address complex urban challenges, with the aim of making cities and urban regions more sustainable, prosperous, inclusive and just". To learn more about the School of Cities visit www.schoolofcities.utoronto.ca. 

To learn more about the Department of Geography and Planning and the different undergraduate and graduate programs available please visit www.geography.utoronto.ca.

Support

• Editor + Music Producer: Imany Lambropoulos
• Podcast Host and Graphic Designer: Alexandra Lambropoulos

Stay in the loop!

If you would like to be interviewed, have an interesting idea to share for an episode, or have any feedback on the podcast, please email at hello[at]urbanlimitrophe.com or DM on social media!

If you enjoy the show, please share it with your family, friends, Veterinarian, Video Producer, Vice President ... and leave a review! 

Make sure to subscribe to the newsletter and follow the podcast on Instagram to stay in the loop for upcoming episodes and opportunities to engage with guests and the show.

Read more »