In Pursuit of Development Urbanization, inequality and the future of development | Benjamin Bradlow
Dan Banik speaks with Benjamin H. Bradlow, Assistant Professor of Sociology and International Affairs at Princeton University, about how cities can grow without leaving millions behind. At a moment when more than a billion people live in informal settlements or slum-like conditions, the conversation explores why access to housing, sanitation, transport, and other basic urban services remains so unequal across the world’s rapidly expanding cities.
The discussion centers on Bradlow’s award-winning book, Urban Power: Democracy and Inequality in São Paulo and Johannesburg, which asks why some democratic cities are more effective than others at reducing urban inequality. Drawing on a comparison of São Paulo and Johannesburg, Bradlow explains how local state capacity, bureaucratic coordination, and the relationship between governments and civil society shape whether excluded communities gain access to the material foundations of urban life.
Dan and Ben discuss informal settlements, affordability, infrastructure, and the role of housing movements in shaping urban governance. The episode offers a rich and accessible conversation on urban development, inequality, and the politics of inclusion, with lessons that extend far beyond the Global South.
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