Friday, March 9, 2018
Media interviews
Round of recent media interviews: including radio interview of congestion pricing and its impacts on cities; interview about tension between China and USA in South China Sea with the arrival of USS Carl Vinson in Danang, Vietnam and an NBC Think video interview on impacts of hosting the Olympic Games.
Sunday, January 28, 2018
Travels in South and East Asia
Recently returned from travels in East and South East Asia. Visited Borneo, Philippines and Hong Kong. Here are some photos that capture some off the places visited.
Manila, Philippines |
Hong Kong on rainy morning |
View from Jockey Club Tower, University of Hong Kong |
Street scene in Mong Kok. Hong Kong |
Baka National Park, Sarawak Malaysia |
Borneo rainforest |
Mosque in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei |
Labels:
Bako. National Park,
Bandar Seri Begawan,
Borneo,
Brunei,
Hong Kong,
Malaysia,
Manila,
Mong Kok,
mosque,
Philippines,
rainforest,
Sarawak,
street scenes
Friday, September 15, 2017
Olympic Crisis
Paris and Los Angles will be the hosts of the Summer Games in 2024 and 2028 respectively. The recent announcement marks a crisis for the International Olympic Committee because it highlights the narrowing of cities willing and able to host the sports extravaganza. I discuss this issue in a recent Conversation piece
Monday, July 10, 2017
Trump Fatigue Syndrome
I have just
been diagnosed with an illness, TFS. It is injurious to long-term health but perhaps
too early to say whether it is fatal.
TFS stand for
Trump Fatigue Syndrome. It is caused by overexposure to coverage of President
Donald Trump. Its symptoms include a depressing sense of watching the same
drama over and over again. And just like being stuck in a movie theater
watching a badly scripted and poorly produced B movie, it begins with feelings
of exhaustion then panic with the realization that it may never end.
All diseases
have vectors; the carriers of this disease are the mass media of both left and
right political persuasion. They cover Trump endlessly became it generates more
viewers and listeners. The presentations are suitably tailored to appeal to
their respective audiences. Trump the hero of the forgotten Americans on Fox
News; Trump the political incompetent on CNN. Trump generates money for
the networks whatever their position. He makes news and attracts viewers
through constant controversies. The President provides all the tweets, images,
talking points, controversies and mayhem: all the media have to do is to roll
the camera and queue the talking head panels. For the mass media Trump is the
equivalent of easy money; for the audience the equivalent of empty sugar
calories that produce a buzz but not much substance. In an age of Trump
Fascination no need to send reporters on overseas missions, or deep reporting
about what ails the Republic and its peoples. The cheap and easy coverage of
Trump allows us to imagine that we are engaged in political debate or critical
analysis while in reality we are party to a flim flam show masquerading as the
US presidency.
All diseases
have symptoms. For those on the left there is a rising sense of exasperation
about what the President does and says. A sense of outrage is continually
aroused leading to exhaustion. For those more to the right there is a feeling
of resentment against the antipathy to their President in the deep state,
Democrats and fake news. Again, a sense of outrage is continually aroused
leading to exhaustion.
Most
diseases have cures. We should begin our diagnosis with the realization that we
no longer inhabit a Republic of political debate but a squalid banality of
neo-reality television. This fever of constant outrage will have to be purged
or it may kill us all.
Labels:
Donald Trump,
President Trump,
Trump,
Trump Fatigue Syndrome
Sunday, July 2, 2017
John Rennie Short in U.S. and international press
The public relations/news department in my university just published this:
Many thanks to Sarah Hansen for the piece:
Many thanks to Sarah Hansen for the piece:
John
Rennie Short,
an expert on globalization, urban and environmental issues, and political
geography, recently shared his research and perspective on current global
trends in several U.S. and international publications. Most recently, the
professor of public policy has commented on topics from shifting political
parties to the rapid growth of cities and their roles in society.
In
Christian Science Monitor, Short addressed recent seismic
shifts in global politics. In this spring’s French election, neither one of the
two traditionally-dominant parties’ presidential candidates advanced to the
second round of voting, demonstrating “a rupture of the traditional political
establishment,” Short said, and reflecting a larger trend in politics seen in
Brexit and Donald Trump’s victory.
Short
added that “we are in a new political era,” where leaders who hope to preserve
Western values must address voters’ very real “economic pain, their cultural
uncertainty, and their political anger at the system” and be “aware of the new sensibilities
that have been brought to the surface.”
On Radio Sputnik, Short discussed another course change in politics. The
Philippine president announced that the Filipino military would begin to occupy
certain islands in the South China Sea, an area to which China lays claim.
“This is very strange, because [President] Duterte had spent the last few
months encouraging closer ties with China,” Short said, adding that the
action was a “provocative move” that would label the Philippines an
unpredictable ally for China.
In Smithsonian Magazine, Short addressed a historical
issue in political geography, commenting on the construction of early maps of
North America, where trade priorities could supersede political considerations.
In these early maps, “the coastlines were accurate, but they weren’t as
concerned about the interiors,” says Short. The attitude was, “as long as you
keep bringing the beavers, we don’t care.”
Short
has also produced several new publications related to contemporary urbanism,
including A Research Agenda for Cities. This volume,
which he edited, features case studies from around the world addressing topics
such as gentrification, gender, creative economies, and sustainability.
In
a piece for the Elgar blog, Short says it’s crucial to research cities because “we
are living in an urban moment. The majority of people now lives in cities.
Cities are at the very heart of transformations of political economy, civil
society and governmentality. They are the setting for progressive politics and
the context for new human–nature relations.”
Short
also explores how cities can illuminate broader global shifts as “nodes in a
global network of flows of people, ideas and practices.” Cities are highly
fluid places, Short suggests, constantly “learning from each other and testing
policies, with the more successful ones diffused, adopted, and adapted around
the global network.”
In
Global Citizen, Short adds, “Technology is
transferrable, knowledge is transferrable, consultants move around, there’s a
global circulation.” That’s part of the reason he believes cities have a major
role to play in combating climate change, the focus of the Global Citizen piece.
The other reason is much more practical: “Emotionally you can think of the
polar bears and the warming Arctic, but when push comes to shove it still seems
a bit distant,” he says. “But the air quality in your city is definitely a real
issue,” and, he suggests, it can motivate cities to take action to curb
pollution.
Short
also addresses reasons that public transportation in U.S. cities lags far
behind our European counterparts on The Academic Minute. He suggests the relevant
factors include an American “love affair with the automobile,” suburban sprawl,
and a large-scale dismantling of privately-owned mass transportation companies
in the 1950s. However, he also sees younger Americans as more interested than
previous generations in accessing public transit options, and less interested
in owning cars, which he suggests could soon cause a sea change in U.S.
transportation trends and investments. The interview followed up on a previous
article Short wrote for The Conversation (“Why is the U.S. unwilling to pay for good public
transportation?”), which was republished by Business Insider, Quartz,
Slate, Newsweek, and others, and has been read nearly 300,000
times worldwide.
Reaching this kind of a broad public audience is a
commitment Short considers central to his work as university researcher and
educator. “Research and knowledge needs to be circulated widely and freely
available to as many people as possible. If it is just for a small privileged
elite it loses its moral center and social purpose,” he suggests. “Those of us
lucky to teach in the academy have the responsibility and obligation where,
when, and how we can to advance civic debates and enlightened discourse.”
Friday, March 31, 2017
Informal economy and street vendors in Cali, Colombia
New article just published on informal economy in Cali Colombia. Based on survey of street vendors in the downtown area. It was cowritten with colleagues at the urban observatory POLIS at ICESI University, Dr. Lina Martinez and Daniela Estrada.
You can access it for free here
You can access it for free here
Abstract
The informal economy is an important
part of urban economies in the global South. Almost half of Colombia's working
population relies on the informal economy to obtain income. This study examined
street vendors in downtown Cali, Colombia. A recent survey of 527 street
vendors provides the basis for a detailed analysis of who works as street vendors,
how much they earn, aspirations and perceptions of their work, and how closely
they resemble the rest of the working population. The presented data also show
the links between this sector and the formal economy. Connections between
people working in this sector and the State were also examined, and welfare
payment flows from the State to the sector were revealed. This study shows how
the informal sector is closely tied to the formal economy and the State's
welfare functions.
Keywords
Informal economy; Street vendors; Formal economy; Cali; Colombia
Street vendors in Cali Colombia (©John Rennie Short) |
Labels:
Cali Colombia,
Cities,
informal economy,
street vendors
Wednesday, March 15, 2017
A Research Agenda for Cities
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