The aim of this research project is to understand different types of problems or ‘crises’ in four cities: Cape Town and Johannesburg in South Africa, and Cali and Buenaventura in Colombia. To do this, the project will explore how crises are discussed in the media and by key organisations (e.g. the city government), how governments and local communities respond to crises, and how effective those responses are, with the ultimate goal of suggesting better ways of responding to them. In order to answer these questions, the project will use a combination of different research methods, including storytelling and interviews.
Interrogating Urban Crisis Representation and Response
This study explores local perspectives of urban crisis representation and response across four ‘disorderly’ urban areas (two in South Africa and two in Colombia). Through privileging the lived experiences of marginalised populations and employing a novel comparative storytelling methodology, the project interrogates the relationship between crisis framings and ensuing responses, alongside the notion of crisis itself, in support of more effective urban crisis response.
COLLABORATORS:
University of Sheffield, University of Cambridge, and Pontificia Universidad Javeriana Cali
CONTRIBUTORS:
Dr Melanie Lombard, Prof Fiona Anciano, Prof Charlotte Lemanki, and Dr Carlos Andres Tobar Tovar
PROJECT DURATION
2023-2024
FUNDED/SUPPORTED BY
British Academy
PROJECT WEBSITE
Related Projects
A diverse set of views from Cape Town's residents from all social demographic area
Lockdown Diaries: Cape Town
A diverse set of views from Cape Town’s residents from all social demographic area
From social infrastructure to pandemic resilience?: Learning from and with low-income urban communities.
Social Infrastructure & Pandemic Resilience
From social infrastructure to pandemic resilience?: Learning from and with low-income urban communities.