Civic urban media: Creating and sharing bottom-up knowledge on cities to shape urban policies
UpdatedGOLD VI report
As part of the UCLG GOLD V1 Report, partners of the CoHabitat Network have contributed a number of case studies based on their experience of successful projects overcoming urban and territorial inequalities.
AUTHORS
James Tayler (Slum Dwellers International), Bea Varnai (urbaMonde) and Mariangela Veronesi (World Habitat)
CITIES/COUNTRIES IT COVERS
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil); Bristol (United Kingdom); Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
▶ Click here to read the full case study (PDF)
SUMMARY
Citizens and urban dwellers connect, communicate and tell stories by using different media such as radio, photography and video to increase the recognition of their local struggles towards social justice, participation and the right to the city. These civic media and storytelling practices directly relate to the processes shaping urban politics and urban planning and contribute to producing the (counter-)narratives of the city.
Acknowledging the potential of civic urban media in challenging the representations of the urban poor and urban residents, and in enhancing collaboration among citizens in voicing their claims, civic urban media initiatives have emerged in a variety of places and contexts.
They contribute to creating grassroots/bottom-up knowledge on cities with the aim to shape urban policies and politics but also showcase alternative ways of making and managing media towards more cooperation and community control. This contribution looks at three cases of civic urban media from various countries in Africa, as well as the UK and Brazil.