Research Abstracts

Blaming cities for climate change? An analysis of urban greenhouse gas emissions inventories

David Dodman, IIED, 3 Endsleigh Street, London WC1H 0DD; david.dodman@iied.org

Cities are often blamed for high levels of greenhouse gas emissions. However, an analysis of emissions inventories shows that — in most cases — per capita emissions from
cities are lower than the average for the countries in which they are located. The paper assesses these patterns of emissions by city and by sector, discusses the implications of different methodological approaches to producing inventories, identifi es the main drivers for high
levels of greenhouse gas production, and examines the role and potential for cities to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.

Environment and Urbanization, Vol. 21, No. 1, 185-201 (2009)
http://eau.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/21/1/185

“This is no longer the city I once knew” Evictions, the urban poor and the right to the city in millennial Delhi
Gautam Bhan, Department of City and Regional Planning, University of California, gbhan@berkeley.edu

Between 1990 and 2003, 51,461 houses were demolished in Delhi under “slum clearance” schemes. Between 2004 and 2007 alone, at least 45,000 homes were demolished, and since 2007, eviction notices have been served on at least three other large settlements. Fewer than 25 per cent of the households evicted in this period have received any alternative resettlement sites. These evictions represent a shift not just in degree but also in kind. They were not ordered by the city’s planning agency, its municipal bodies or by the city government. Instead, each was the result of a judicial ruling. What has this emergence of the judiciary into urban planning and government meant for the urban poor? This paper analyzes the dictums of verdicts on evictions in the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court of India from 1985 to 2006. Using these judgments, it explores
the “misrecognition” of poor that became dramatically apparent in the early 1990s and that underlies and justifies evictions. This shift is then located in the larger political, economic and aesthetic transformations that are reconfiguring the politics of public interest in Indian cities.

Environment and Urbanization, Vol. 21, No. 1, 127-142 (2009)
http://eau.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/21/1/127

A tale of two wards: political participation and the urban poor in Dhaka city
Nicola Banks, University of Manchester, nicolabanks@gmail.com

This paper investigates the extent of political participation of the urban poor in Dhaka, identifying the actors with whom the urban poor interact for problem solving and gaining access to services. Through a comparison of different experiences of “active” and “non-active” poor residents across two wards, the research identifies barriers to effective political participation; it then considers how
opportunities for participation can be advanced. The experience of the Coalition for the Urban Poor’s Basti Basheer Odhikar Surakha Committee illustrates how collective mobilization of the poor has been successful in incorporating the urban poor into municipal governance. Alongside its successes, the research also investigates constraints to such initiatives in terms of securing national commitment to urban poverty reduction.

Environment and Urbanization, Vol. 20,No.2,361-376 (2008)
http://eau.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/20/2/361

Between Constructivism and Connectedness
Mordechai Gordon, Quinnipiac University; mordechai.gordon@quinnipiac.edu

Parker Palmer is correct in his claims that good teaching depends more on capacity for connectedness than on technique and that helping teacher candidates cultivate a strong sense of personal identity is crucial. To whatextent are Palmer’s claims compatible with the various
constructivist models of learning that are now prevalent in many colleges of education? And, how are the goals of Palmer’s approach integrated with those of constructivism?
This essay responds to these questions and negotiates between constructivism and Palmer’s educational approach. First the author lays out a predominant constructivist model of teaching and learning. Next, he explores some potential limitations facing constructivism and argues that
Palmer’s notion of connectedness can help mitigate some of the shortcomings of constructivism. Finally, the author examines a specifi c example from an English methods course that represents an attempt to integrate the virtues of Palmer’s approach with those of constructivism.
http://jte.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/59/4/322

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