Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
capitalist value system coming from coalitions between the many movements seek-
ing greater justice that have developed in and between cities. He observed they
all too frequently flourish, then fade, failing to connect with one another. Hence
he argued the case for urban solutions: “reclaiming and organizing cities for anti-
capitalist struggles is a great place to begin” (Harvey
2013
, p. 153). Such a view
may imply that there is little hope of effective socialist change coming from state-
based actions, given the built-in conservatism of the political class and the power
of corporations in democratic countries, and where even the supposedly egalitar-
ian Chinese Communist leadership have placed a new emphasis on market-based
guidance in the resolutions of the 2013 Party Congress. Despite this aspiration for
future actions based on cities there are few guides about how to achieve this change
in a transformative sense, especially given the limited powers of most urban gov-
ernments. In any case there is always the problem that success in one city may
not be copied by the many other cities in which injustice occurs, despite Harvey's
suggestion for some kind of association developing between cities sharing in this
task, a kind of radical Hanseatic League of co-operating socialist cites. This role is
a long way from the merchant capitalism that created and maintained this original
medieval league, but does point to the recognition of the utility of creating networks
between cities to promote some future goal, an idea that lies behind many of the
themes discussed in other chapters. This view of combating injustice is still a mat-
ter of hope, with only limited examples of places where such change is occurring.
Hence most would still argue there seems little alternative to developing the type
of incremental and achievable policy aims discussed above that will lead to more
just cities.
The types of policy initiatives to reduce injustice that have been described in
previous sections are all based on two features. The first is upon
'fairness' as a re-
distributive principle
, one upon which decision-making in planning and redevelop-
ment can be evaluated, and which exposes and replaces the current emphasis upon
competitiveness and maximizing utilities. The fairness should not be seen only in
the income or inequality sense that is stressed here; it should also be seen as a basis
for ensuring the tolerance for diversity, whether in ethnicity or in life-styles etc.,
part of the general search for more justice. This means incorporating objectives to
create what has become known as emancipatory cities (Lees
2004
). The second is
upon
urban-based policies
, seeing them as arenas in which more effective changes
are needed, instead of only relying upon national state policies as the basis for re-
distributive justice. Yet some caveats must be made. The Just City literature has not
yet effectively linked national, regional and urban policies together. Moreover it
is obvious that many city budgets are incapable of financing many of the capabili-
ties needed. So they, as well as local communities within their area, would need a
greater share of the national tax income and additional powers to enable them to
implement such additional functions. In addition, the problem that Aristotle noted
millennia ago needs to be appreciated, namely that there cannot be only one form
of justice. This truism is even more relevant today, given the greater complexity of
contemporary cities and society, as well as the different problems that exist in vari-
ous urban places.
