20. SEEING THE CITY: A discussion with Junia Mortimer and Felipe Magalhaes

In this episode Tom and Beth are joined by visiting researchers to the Universities of Sheffield and Manchester, Junia Mortimer and Felipe Magalhães. 

They discuss:

• How can we see and understand the city in this geopolitical age of conflict and global uncertainty?
• How can photographs and visual archives make visible the complexities of cities, particularly those in the Global South?
• When seeing directly is not possible, what other approaches can help us analyse the intense volatility of cities impacted by urbanisation and industrialisation processes?
• What do these methods mean for urbanists interested in urban change? What endures, what transforms and how do we validate what counts as knowledge?

Guests:

Junia Mortimer is an Assistant Prof at the Department of Urban Planning at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), Brazil. She is currently an Urban Studies Foundation International Fellow at the Urban Institute, University of Sheffield. She has curated exhibitions including Urbanos Arquivos (2023) in Salvador, which won first prize in the 2024 Arquisur Competition and she coordinates the Laboratory of Experiments on Image and Architecture.

Felipe Magalhães is an Assistant Prof at the Department of Geography, UFMG, Brazil and Visiting Fellow at University of Manchester. He has been working on popular and solidarity economies, deindustrialization and extractivism in the Brazilian context. He has recently published in the journals Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, IJURR and Antipode.

Key archives/figures mentioned:

Zumvi Afro-Photographic Archive: Lázaro Roberto.

Roberto Monte Mor

Edneia Aparecida de Souza

Ariella Azoulay

Francisco de Oliveira

Hosts:

Tom Goodfellow is Professor of Urban Development in the Global Development Institute, University of Manchester.  His research focuses on the political economy of urban development and change in Africa, particularly the politics of urban land and transportation, conflicts around infrastructure and housing, and urban institutional change. (linkedin.com/in/tom-goodfellow-0b418441) 

Beth Perry is Professor of Urban Epistemics and Director of the Urban Institute at the University of Sheffield. Her research focuses on the relationships between urban expertise, governance and justice, underpinned by a commitment to co-producing collective intelligence across multiple scales to address complex urban challenges. She has worked in cities in Africa, Europe and the UK. (linkedin.com/in/itsbethperry)

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Thanks to the Universities of Sheffield and Manchester for providing time, resources and equipment to support this podcast.