Cooperation Jackson’s food sovereignty initiatives help with sustainable community development, economic democracy, and community ownership in the deep South
Cooperation Jackson’s food sovereignty program hopes to produce sufficient food to feed 25,000 mostly working class African-Americans. Along with the main farming operation, a coop grocery store, café, food truck and joint aquaponics and hydroponics installation that are in the works. This organization is encouraging…
Portland just passed the best low-density zoning reform in US history
Portland’s city council has set a new bar for North American housing reform by legalizing up to four homes on almost any residential lot. It’s the most pro-housing reform to low-density zones in US history. Portland’s new rules will also offer a “deeper affordability” option:…
In historic move, North Carolina city approves reparations for black residents
In an extraordinary move, the Asheville City Council apologized for the North Carolina city’s historic role in slavery, discrimination and denial of basic liberties to Black residents and voted to provide reparations to them and their descendants. This resolution called on the city to create…
Tenants of five Minneapolis buildings now own their homes. Here’s how they did it
A group of five famílies, fed up with the state of their houses, the repairs not being done thought they should be their own landlords. This group, dubbed the Corcoran Five, not only have been a major part of winning a landmark $18.5 million class-action…
Cities of dignity: Urban transformations around the world
One of the main challenges that strategies for social-ecological transformation are facing today is the fact that a majority of the world population lives in cities, which can be considered structurally unsustainable spaces. It is thus crucial to discuss how cities can be transformed from…
Pandemic municipalism
Kate Shea Baird talks about her article, Lessons from the pandemic for the municipalists in Spain, on the This is Hell! podcast, commenting on US politics and Spanish municipalism. Beginning with the question of why Trump is so frightened at the movements that question the…
Will George Floyd’s death actually change how cities and states are run?
The deaths of black Americans that proceeded George Floyd’s death all have a troubling common theme: the officers involved faced little to no legal repercussions for their actions. State and local governments are long overdue to publicly acknowledge, apologize and end their complicit role in…
Cities ask if it’s time to defund police and ‘reimagine’ public safety
In the US, Minneapolis is not the only city asking the question of how to approach public safety and emergency response after national unrest following the death of George Floyd. The calls to redirect money away from the police come as cities face steep budget…
American cities are built for cars. The coronavirus could change that.
As the Covid-19 crisis wears on, a surprising tool has emerged in the effort to slow transmission: city streets. The car has long been king in America’s cities, with spacious roadways edged by narrow sidewalks. But with many sidewalks barely large enough for the six…