Urban Infrastructuring: Reconfigurations, Transformations and Sustainability in the Global South

This book explores the processes linking infrastructural configurations and their components with other social, ecological, political, or otherwise defined systems as part of urbanization and globalisation in the Global South. It argues that infrastructuring is essential to urbanization and is entangled with socio-spatio-ecological transformations that often have negative outcomes over time. It suggests that infrastructuring requires an ethical positioning in research and practice to enhance infrastructural sustainability in the face of intersecting environmental, social, and economic crises. The edited volume contains contributions from authors with backgrounds in various academic disciplines and provides valuable insights for anyone concerned with the study, design, planning, implementation, and maintenance of urban infrastructures to enhance human well-being and sustainability.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 327 pages
Publication date: 20 April 2023
Publisher: Springer Verlag, Singapore

This book delves into the intricate processes that connect infrastructural configurations and their components with other social, ecological, political, or otherwise defined systems as part of urbanization and globalization in the Global South. It emphasizes the crucial role of infrastructuring in urbanization and its intricate relationship with socio-spatio-ecological transformations, which often result in negative consequences over time. Furthermore, the book argues that infrastructuring necessitates an ethical positioning in research and practice to promote infrastructural sustainability in the face of intersecting environmental, social, and economic crises.

The book is organized into three parts. The first part identifies infrastructural entanglements across diverse urban and urbanizing settings in the Global South, highlighting the complex web of relationships and interactions between infrastructure and various social, ecological, and political systems. The second part explores the damaging processes and outcomes of urban infrastructuring, emphasizing how the absence, presence, and transformation of infrastructure in the Global South reproduce socioecological injustice in both the short and long term. The third part advocates for a shift in infrastructuring agendas towards more just and sustainable interventions. It suggests that an ethico-politics of care should be embedded in systems approaches to infrastructuring, both in research and practice, to enhance human well-being and sustainability.

Contributions to this edited volume come from authors with backgrounds in a wide range of academic disciplines, including natural and social sciences, engineering, and the humanities. The book offers valuable insights for anyone interested in the study, design, planning, implementation, and maintenance of urban infrastructures to improve human well-being and sustainability. It will be of interest to researchers, urban decision-makers, and policymakers alike.

Weight: 647g
Dimension: 254 x 178 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9789811683541
Edition number: 1st ed. 2022