Rethinking the off-grid city. Issue 8 (14th September 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Caprotti, Federico; de Groot, Jiska; Bobbins, Kerry; Mathebula, Norman; Butler, Catherine; Moorlach, Mascha; Schloemann, Hendrik; Densmore, Alex; Finlay, Kimenthrie
• Is Part Of: Urban geography. Volume 43:Issue 8(2022)
• Page Start: 1217
• Page End: 1230
• Publication Date: 2022-09-14
• Subjects: Off-grid city -- informality -- urban infrastructures -- urban development -- access to infrastructure -- urban poverty; Urban geography -- Periodicals; 307.76
• DOI: 10.1080/02723638.2022.2036928
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0272-3638

Abstract

ABSTRACT: There has been a resurgence in interest in the off-grid city in the Global South, and on how it functions as a collection of places, lived spaces, and dynamic infrastructural configurations. As scholars and practitioners working in the South African off-grid urban context, we identify four areas for further elaboration in off-grid urban research: 1.) redefining academic and practical understandings of the "grid", ultimately moving to rethink its meaning in the city; 2.) the need to decolonize and decenter the relationship between global and technocratic urban development "standards", practices and discourses, and the granular off-grid context; 3.) the imperative of critically engaging with narratives of inadequacy and imperfection as often applied to off-grid, informal urban spaces; 4.) the priority of moving towards a needs-based approach to off-grid development, focusing on urban knowledge co-production with local communities to ensure their needs and interests are met.