“... financing does not simply enable infrastructure—it reorganises control, redistributes risk, and reshapes access. In the case of the expressway, the PPP model effectively transforms a public infrastructure into a revenue-generating asset under private control. This shifts its orientation from a collective urban service toward a commodified, selectively accessible corridor.”

Flyer with USF logo for the blog "Estranging infrastructure through writing and publishing" on a picture of the Nairobi Expressway by Zhengli Huang; and the quote "... financing does not simply enable infrastructure—it reorganises control, redistributes risk, and reshapes access. In the case of the expressway, the PPP model effectively transforms a public infrastructure into a revenue-generating asset under private control. This shifts its orientation from a collective urban service toward a commodified, selectively accessible corridor.”

📉 How does financing transform a public service into a "commodified corridor"?

In this new #USFblog post, former #USFInternationalFellow Zhengli Huang reflects on her research in Kenya, comparing the SGR and the Nairobi Expressway. 🇰🇪

https://ow.ly/KOuZ50YH1Rr
#Kenya #Infrastructure #PPP

Flyer with USF logo for the USF blog "Reparative urban futures: reconfiguring infrastructures and institutions towards liberation" and the quote "“Communities are already doing the critical work of repairing urban infrastructure while envisioning pathways towards reparative futures. As scholars, we must go beyond simply learning and documenting what communities are doing; they are not just knowledge holders. They are knowledge producers and grounded city planners. “ on a Illustration from ‘Threads and Seeds,’ zine prepared for the Reparative Urban Futures community forum, by Anna Carlson, shared with permission. Copyright

Flyer with USF logo for the USF blog "Reparative urban futures: reconfiguring infrastructures and institutions towards liberation" and the quote "“Communities are already doing the critical work of repairing urban infrastructure while envisioning pathways towards reparative futures. As scholars, we must go beyond simply learning and documenting what communities are doing; they are not just knowledge holders. They are knowledge producers and grounded city planners. “ on a Illustration from ‘Threads and Seeds,’ zine prepared for the Reparative Urban Futures community forum, by Anna Carlson, shared with permission. Copyright

👉 New on the #USFBlog 🥂

In this guest blog, Naama Blatman, Sage Ponder & Suraya Scheba reflect on "Reparative Urban Futures," a #USF-supported workshop bringing scholars and community organisers together to rethink infrastructure, abolition, and repair from the ground up.

📖 ow.ly/tHov50XMIY2

Flyer with USF logo for the USF Blog "Extending the dialogue of informality, e-waste, and nature-based solutions" and the quote "“While I was aware that informal systems, particularly in waste management, are central to livelihoods in cities like Accra and Kumasi, I had not fully explored their potential to contribute to climate adaptation through ecological approaches. The Fellowship offered me the space, resources, and intellectual community to advance this agenda, and in the process, to situate African urban experiences more centrally within global urban studies debates.” on a picture by Keron Achiaa

Flyer with USF logo for the USF Blog "Extending the dialogue of informality, e-waste, and nature-based solutions" and the quote "“While I was aware that informal systems, particularly in waste management, are central to livelihoods in cities like Accra and Kumasi, I had not fully explored their potential to contribute to climate adaptation through ecological approaches. The Fellowship offered me the space, resources, and intellectual community to advance this agenda, and in the process, to situate African urban experiences more centrally within global urban studies debates.” on a picture by Keron Achiaa

🌍 New on the #USFBlog!
Former #USFInternationalFellow Michael Osei Asibey reflects on his research into informal e-waste recycling and nature-based solutions for climate resilience, carried out under the mentorship of Patrick Brandful Cobbinah.
👉 ow.ly/cpNl50XExCZ

#NatureBasedSolutions #Ewaste

Flyer with USF logo for the EVENT "Decentring Urban Politics: Thinking with and beyond Eastern Europe and Africa " This seminar series, funded by the Urban Studies Foundation, brings together scholars working on Africa and Eastern Europe to explore how cities are shaped by state actors and political dynamics. 15 September 2025, 9:00 (GMT+3) Tallinn University, Tallinn, Estonia In Person Picture taken from UCL web: https://urban-politics-and-negotiated-stateness.notion.site/Urban-Politics-and-Negotiated-Stateness-Comparative-Perspectives-across-Africa-and-Eastern-Europe-263016d5228480849395c0b07d4b978f

🔔New in the #USFBlog!
“Urban politics and negotiated stateness: comparative perspectives across Africa and Eastern Europe”
👉 ow.ly/2P6o50WVrW2

🌍Check the 1st event of the Series!
"Decentring Urban Politics: Thinking with & beyond Eastern Europe and Africa"
📅 15–16 Sept 2025
🔗 ow.ly/5Q8b50WVrW0

[Image description: Flyer with USF logo and the quote: "We adopted this concept [feminist urban struggles] to describe the everyday, multiple strategies and articulations often led by women to simultaneously transform and protect their peripheral territories while also facing intersectional violence." on a Photo of UMM activists taken by Amanda Silber Bleich, 15 March 2024.]

🔔New on the #USFBlog: In this guest post, Dr Priscila Izar, Prof Paula Freire Santoro, and Dr Elinorata Mbuya discuss their research on how urban transformations in peripheral areas impact marginalized women, a project supported by a #USFSeminarSeriesAwards grant.
👉https://ow.ly/Ilpm50VbLIu

Flyer with the USF logo and the quote, "These funded proposals often feature collaborations among multiple individuals and organizations, addressing a wide range of themes, such as democracy, domestic work, popular mapping, port cities, queerness, and more. " on a photo of purple and gray small circle pattern via Flickr by shaireproductions.

USF announces 2024's Knowledge Mobilization Awards. The projects are designed to build on the outputs of previous USF-funded research by expanding its reach and facilitating its social impact beyond the academic world. Check the latest #USFBlog: ow.ly/chO950REfUa

Picture description: Flyer with the USF logo and the quote, "The Writing Urban India programme demonstrates that developing writing competenPicture description: Flyer with the USF logo and the quote, "The Writing Urban India programme demonstrates that developing writing competence among early career scholars requires targeted technical knowledge of writing and publication processes as well as the sustained support of mentors and peers." Photo via Flickr by Nicolas Mirguet.

📢 New on #USFBlog! Check our latest guest post, where the "Writing Urban India" organizers describe their collective initiatives. Learn about their fellowship program, designed to empower early career scholars to create publishable academic works. ow.ly/TjHh50RbWy1

Flyer with the USF logo and the quote, "For families experiencing homelessness, debt is not a choice. Rather, it has become a necessity of survival. Women aren’t failing; women and children are being failed. " on a Photo by Anthony Luvera

Explore the latest #USFBlog post by Katherine Brickell and Mel Nowicki on "Debt Trap Urbanism." Their research on homelessness, temporary accommodation, and debt, supported by a Pandemics and Cities grant, unveils the ties between housing and financial struggles. Online here: ow.ly/56R650QNtaU

Flyer with the quote, "What kinds of social, spatial, and institutional issues were revealed and exacerbated by the pandemic in Chicago, Johannesburg, and Toronto?", a USF logo on a background with an image of Chicago by Thomas Hawk via Flickr.

#USFBlog "The city after #COVID-19: Vulnerability and urban governance in Chicago, Toronto, and Johannesburg" Profs Roger Keil, Xuefei Ren, and Philip Harrison discuss the critical role of municipal institutions and their civil society partners during Covid. ow.ly/2klA50QCNBB