This project juxtaposes the notion of the ‘good city’ and the classical idea of the topos of the good life in tension with the concept of the ’24-Hour Risk City’ to understand the interactions between multiple forms of urban violence and climate risks in Nairobi (Kenya) and Karachi (Pakistan).
Risk and resilience are a core problematic today for development, governance, and any contemporary definition of a ‘good life’. This project puts marginalised, poor women, who often experience significant levels of violence, at the heart of what it means to experience the city in 24-hour cycles of overlapping risks and uncertainties.
In this new project funded by the British Academy Knowledge Frontiers programme, researchers from IDS, the Institute of Business Administration, Karachi, Kounkuey Design Initiative and the Open University are working together to explore the multiple pathways through which pro-poor, gender sensitive infrastructure development and risk mitigation practices potentiated by each research site can deliver improved wellbeing, through a process of cross-city learning and interdisciplinary research.
Please see this presentation below given at the 2024 UK Alliance for Disasters Research conference by Co-I Arabella Fraser on behalf of the team.