Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Some may see the explicit adoption of the principle of fairness as an aspirational
goal. Inertia in city governments frequently leads to a reluctance to change exist-
ing approaches and continued support for the continuation of policies based on the
maximization of financial profit. The recent retrenchment of many governments—
especially given the debt and unemployment levels created by the post 2008 finan-
cial crises—has not helped the progressive agenda. Yet this crisis has meant there
is an even greater need to deliver many of the basic capabilities shown in Table
3.2
in cities, even in the developed world, and especially in the cities of the developing
world. Nevertheless, there may be reasons for believing that changes in reducing
injustices in the provision of goods and power could occur, even relatively quickly,
once sufficient support for the idea is created among the general public and the
decision-makers in particular, as two examples in related fields show. For example,
the practice of carrying out archaeological surveys before development occurs, at
least in historic places, is now standard in western urban centres. They have ensured
that significant historical artefacts and evidence of the past are not lost. Similarly,
environmental reviews to avoid, or at least mitigate, the negative impacts of de-
velopment on the wildlife or physical environment of urban areas are also usually
mandatory—at least in many parts of the developed world—although it is obvious
that some impacts are still being ignored. These two examples show that the adop-
tion of new principles in the decision-making processes that surround development
or redevelopment in urban places have occurred relatively quickly in contemporary
urban places. Yet it must be admitted that the attainment of greater justice, let alone
the many goals of a Just City, may be more difficult to achieve than in these two
examples, given the forces of neo-liberal ideology and the accumulated injustices
already built into both the urban fabric and societal mores. Nevertheless the emerg-
ing Just City literature and related, more radical movements such as the Rights to
the City Alliance are proving successful in focusing attention upon practical is-
sues, showing how change could occur. Given the way that the older progressive
approaches in urban areas that had achieved so much in the previous century had
floundered by the end of the twentieth century, this progress is overdue. Moreover,
the Just City approach, instead of just criticizing existing policies and addressing
each problem of injustice as a single issue, now seeks to develop a more coherent
body of policy-related literature in order to more effectively tackle the serious injus-
tices that still exist in our towns and cities. But we must be cautious. Real progress
will also require addressing the wider issue of persuading public opinion that seems
increasingly contributionist to support the need for more just policies, rather than
only formulating policy examples. In this regard it is worth ending by remembering
the words of a prominent justice philosopher who has succinctly noted the problems
of the past and identified the requirements of the future.
We have…..made our citizens more unequal than they ought to be. We have not sustained
the social infrastructure that our social life requires. We have not made a sufficient commit-
ment to communal provision. We have not provided a wide enough range of opportunities.
We have not challenged the power of private governments. Justice requires that we do all
these things, but it also requires that we do them democratically. Hence the burden that
