Round Two

Its been a year now since I began this blog and like most bloggers, I definitely fell off of the horse here and there due to time constraints and so on. I can't make any promises as to how this may go in the future -- less bumpy, more mallowy, etc. -- but I plan to keep writing about what appeals to me. At the least this means that you won't find things that aren't interesting to me here. But is that enough to occupy you? Hmm . . .

Imagining a "Planet of Slums"

The London Review of Books sez: "If there are countries in the South where more people live in slums than live in cities proper, and if by 2020 half of the world’s urban population will exist in poverty, then the slum deserves more attention than it’s getting from planners, sociologists, environmentalists, epidemiologists and demographers."

And so the last few months I've spent a lot of time thinking about Mike Davis' book Planet of Slums. Its got a little bit of something for about everyone, especially apocalyptic types. Though I don't often find myself among their numbers, the book really poked at my imagination. I have some quibbles with it, but the overall thrust is a fresh and urgent view on the future of the developing world's cities and their inhabitants. Since Cairo is one of the many cities Davis cites, its helped me to reposition my own interests in human rights and to consider tentative ideas about a thesis.

An interview with Mike Davis from ZMagazine. And UN-HABITAT is on a parallel track with some of Mike Davis' concerns.