“Was not their mistake once more bred of the life of slavery that they had been living?—a life which was always looking upon everything, except mankind, animate and inanimate—‘nature,’ as people used to call it—as one thing, and mankind as another, it was natural to people thinking in this way, that they should try to make ‘nature’ their slave, since they thought ‘nature’ was something outside them” — William Morris


Friday, December 23, 2016

Tim's Holiday Lectures Gift 12: Where Are All the Megacities? (mp3)

This was a lecture I gave in Singapore at the Future Cities conference, Singapore, September 14, 2016. Some engineers might have been upset by how I characterized science (quite accurately), because one of them, a really heavy spokesperson for neoliberalism, had a bit of a go at me the next day. He expressed, in front of several people, concern that my job was funded by taxpayer money. I think in part that was because I told him quite honestly that I hadn't paid attention when he said something about me in his paper. It was one of those moments when you could say something witty and cutting but you just feel so relaxed and happy, nothing is bothering you.

The conference was about urban planning and I think I was there to provide a different perspective than the usual efficiency and “sustainability” talk.

Thanks so much to Stephen Cairns, whose voice you'll hear.


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