Uploaded September 2019 | Updated September 2026, 18 hours ago
Cities play a fundamental role in the implementation of sustainable development. They have much to learn from each other, and city-to-city cooperation is often promoted as a way of exchanging innovative ideas and good practices for urban reform, participation and the transformation of city life. However, Fritz Nganje (University of Johannesburg) argues that when city-to-city cooperation is undertaken as a purely technocratic exercise, designed and implemented in a manner that fails to challenge unequal power relations, the progressive ideas behind the notion of the "right to the city" will not be fulfilled. He calls for moving towards a critical understanding of city partnerships, one that re-conceptualizes them as political tools.
About UNRISD Conference 2018
"Overcoming Inequalities in a Fractured World: Between Elite Power and Social Mobilization", UNRISD International Conference, is a forum for analysis and dialogue that brought together academics, UN representatives, policy makers and civil society.
Learn more about the conference unrisd.org/conference2018
Cities play a fundamental role in the implementation of sustainable development. They have much to learn from each other, and city-to-city cooperation is often promoted as a way of exchanging innovative ideas and good practices for urban reform, participation and the transformation of city life. However, Fritz Nganje (University of Johannesburg) argues that when city-to-city cooperation is undertaken as a purely technocratic exercise, designed and implemented in a manner that fails to challenge unequal power relations, the progressive ideas behind the notion of the "right to the city" will not be fulfilled. He calls for moving towards a critical understanding of city partnerships, one that re-conceptualizes them as political tools.
About UNRISD Conference 2018
"Overcoming Inequalities in a Fractured World: Between Elite Power and Social Mobilization", UNRISD International Conference, is a forum for analysis and dialogue that brought together academics, UN representatives, policy makers and civil society.
Learn more about the conference unrisd.org/conference2018
