Media: Nitin Bathla (ETH) interviews participants of INURA 2022 for the Urban Political Podcast

One of the many highlights of 30th Conference of the International Network of Urban Research and Action in Luxembourg, 2022, was participating in Nitin Bathla's project for he Urban Political Podcast.   Listen to it on Spotify (I highly recommend to follow this great podcast) or listen directly at the website of the Urban Political, 

here.

Thank you Nitin! And also thank you to Ross Beveridge (Urban Studies Department of the University of Glasgow) and Markus Kip (Georg-Simmel-Center for Metropolitan Studies at Humboldt University in Berlin) for their support.

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New from Carr, C., Bast, D., Madron, K., Syrus, M. (2022) Mapping the clouds: The matter of data centers Journal of Maps. Available, Open Access

New from Carr, C., Bast, D., Madron, K., Syrus, M. (2022) Mapping the clouds: The matter of data centers Journal of Maps. Available, Open Access here

As a preview, here is the abstract:

The social spatial geographies of telecommunications and their infrastructures have long interested scholars in the social sciences, and in urban geography specifically. This paper focuses on data centers. Much effort has been placed in preserving the notion that data centers are ‘clouds’, a terminology that obfuscates the real human geographies of cyberplaces. In this map-making exercise, we visualize the sociopolitical human geographies of data centers, and provoke the reader to consider the impacts that data centers have on residents and their environments. The maps shown in this paper suggest four trends. First, hyperscale data center owners are building near large waterways, signifying a shift in location preferences. Second, data centers stress local administrations, financing, and availability of upstream resources, as hyperscale data centers step up their input needs. Third, data center development is state-led. Fourth the competition for data center industries unfolds across a multi-level governance context. 

Keywords: Amsterdam, cyberplace, data centers, hyperscale, Luxembourg, Seattle 

The article maps the power consumption of data centers in Luxembourg, Seattle, Quincy and Amsterdam.  For a preview, one map is shown below 

See also other similar work from earlier this year: Bast et al. (2022) Four reasons why data centers matter, five implications of their social spatial distribution, one graphic to visualize them, at Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space:

Media - Carr interviewed by Feargus O'Sullivan at Bloomberg CityLab

 

 

A thoughtful piece about Luxemoburg's free transit from Feargus O'Sullivan at CityLab, Bloomberg. The full article can be found here.

INURA Conference in Luxembourg - Lots to report! Among other things, Carr elected to the Board

photo by Ute Lehrer (2022)

During the final week of June 2022, Constance (Connie), Markus, Karinne, Mafaz, Olga, Chris and Elide welcomed international guests from the International Network of Urban Research and Action (INURA) to Luxembourg. Originally planned in 2020, the 30th conference of INURA finally took place at the Youth Hostel in Luxembourg City. 

A big thank you to the Department of Geography and Spatial Planning, the Faculty of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences (FHSE), the Ministry of Energy and Spatial Planning, the Luxembourg National Research Fund and the Department of Architecture, ETH, and the INURA Common Office in Zurich.  Also thank you to all the organizing help (https://inuraluxembourg.blogspot.com/p/abo.html)

On Day 1, Markus led guests around Kirchberg, while Connie and Karinne introduced the group to Eis Stad and planning contradictions at Stärplatz and Stade Josy Barthel. Both tours aimed at introducing INURA — a membership of urban scholars and activists— to contradictions in Luxembourg urban planning and governance.

The following days were a series of panel discussions on urgent topics, ranging from climate change and urbanization, to housing and financialization, authoritarian aggression. Also critical discussions about the contradictions inherent between activism and urban governing were addressed, and the challenges being faced by the urbanization of disaster.  

At the conference, Constance and Fred Robinson of U Durham were elected to the INURA Board of Directors, joining Ileana Apostol (ETH), Christian Schmid (ETH),  and Andreas Wirz (Archipel).

More news about the conference to follow in the upcoming INURA Bulletin.

Media - Carr interviewed by Julian Dörr at Der Tagesspiegel

Nice article by Julian Dörr in Der Tagesspiegel, "Das Null-Euro Ticket". The full article can be found here (behind a paywall unfortunately).   Interest in Luxembourg's public transit has been revived again by Germany's 9€ ticket.  Colleagues in the USA also tell me that interest in Luxembourg transit is garnering attention in projects at the University of Georgia.