Suzanne Scheld - Böcker

Urban parks such as New York City's Central Park provide vital public spaces where city dwellers of all races and classes can mingle safely while enjoying a variety of recreations. By coming together in these relaxed settings, different groups become comfortable with each other, thereby strengthening their communities and the democratic fabric of society. But just the opposite happens when, by design or in ignorance, parks are made inhospitable to certain groups of people. This pathfinding book argues that cultural diversity should be a key goal in designing and maintaining urban parks. Using case studies of New York City's Prospect Park, Orchard Beach in Pelham Bay Park, and Jacob Riis Park in the Gateway National Recreation Area, as well as New York's Ellis Island Bridge Proposal and Philadelphia's Independence National Historical Park, the authors identify specific ways to promote, maintain, and manage cultural diversity in urban parks. They also uncover the factors that can limit park use, including historical interpretive materials that ignore the contributions of different ethnic groups, high entrance or access fees, park usage rules that restrict ethnic activities, and park "restorations" that focus only on historical or aesthetic values. With the wealth of data in this book, urban planners, park professionals, and all concerned citizens will have the tools to create and maintain public parks that serve the needs and interests of all the public.

This volume offers valuable anthropological insight into urban Africa, covering a range of cities across a continent that has become one of the fastest urbanizing geographic areas of the globe. Consideration is given to the structures, social formations, and rhythms that constitute the definition of an African city, town, or urban space, and to current concepts for thinking about African cities in the twenty-first century. The contributors examine topics including notions of belonging, the effects of globalization, colonialism, and transnationalism on African urban life, the cultural dimensions of infrastructure and public resources, mobility, labor issues, spatial organization, language, and popular culture trends, among other themes. The book reflects on how the ethnography of urban Africa fits within anthropology and urban studies, and on new theoretical concepts and methodologies that can be created through anthropological fieldwork in African cities. It will be of particular interest to scholars and students from anthropology, African studies and urban studies, as well as sociology and geography.

This volume offers valuable anthropological insight into urban Africa, covering a range of cities across a continent that has become one of the fastest urbanizing geographic areas of the globe. Consideration is given to the structures, social formations, and rhythms that constitute the definition of an African city, town, or urban space, and to current concepts for thinking about African cities in the twenty-first century. The contributors examine topics including notions of belonging, the effects of globalization, colonialism, and transnationalism on African urban life, the cultural dimensions of infrastructure and public resources, mobility, labor issues, spatial organization, language, and popular culture trends, among other themes. The book reflects on how the ethnography of urban Africa fits within anthropology and urban studies, and on new theoretical concepts and methodologies that can be created through anthropological fieldwork in African cities. It will be of particular interest to scholars and students from anthropology, African studies and urban studies, as well as sociology and geography.

This book considers the issue of sustainability in sub-Saharan Africa. It assesses the progress that has been made in sustainable development and the challenges that must still be addressed. Most importantly, it focuses on African experiences with sustainable development. Using the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as the framework for the analysis, the manuscript traces how the discourse on sustainability has evolved from a cultural, political, economic, and social perspective. It focuses on the goals for climate action, sustainable cities and communities, institutions, and partnerships to examine the vulnerability of Africans to climate change, attitudes towards sustainability, ethical challenges to implementing sustainable development programs, the relationship between governance, poverty, and sustainability, environmental terrorism, sustainable health care, sustainable transportation, and the use of open green space to promote a sustainable urban community. The book integrates the theory, practice, ethics, and policy of sustainability to better understand the implications for problems and responses to sustainable development in Africa. No book has applied the SDGs to an evaluation of sustainable development in Africa. This book fills that gap. Chapters from leading scholars utilize various research methods combined with case study analysis to provide context and a deeper understanding of the critical issues in sustainability in the sub-Saharan African world. The first section of the book examines the theory of sustainability and provides an overview of some of the most important institutional questions in the discourse on environmental policies in the African world. The next section of the book focuses on the issues and challenges that inform our understanding of sustainability and the implementation of best practices. Sustainability is examined in a global context as the difficulties in enforcing international standards and protections in the state-centered international order are considered. The final part of the book engages in a more in-depth examination of several specific examples of sustainability in urban Africa.