Mirroring effects: tales of territory

Abstract

Mirroring Effects sounds out prevalent political and economic practices concerning environment-making in the contemporary world. The case studies unfold as real-life tales chronicling mutually reinforcing processes that bind urbanization to integrated world capitalism. Taken together, the tales narrate the ongoing restructuring of built and lived spaces in the diverse regions of what are generally referred to as the Global South and the Global North. Whereas the two parts of this volume are divided along this political and economic equator, the stories blur that very distinction, making it clear that the expansion of the free market has entangled developed as well as developing regions to the extent that such dichotomies no longer hold. The essays chart the course of capital-led development in the settings such as Addis Ababa, Mumbai, Cairo, São Paulo, Dubai, Berlin, Paris and Shanghai. This particular itinerary traces the changes that have taken place on the ground, physically and socially, and offers glimpses of where our geo-economic order is heading and what conditions will most likely ensue, for better or worse, given prevalent modes of territorial production. the stories told, if casually overheard, coudl just as easily be misconstrued as the stuff of incredible fables. But real they are.