Urban political ecologies of housing and climate change: the ‘Coolest Block’ Contest in Philadelphia

Edwards, Gareth A. S. and Bulkeley, Harriet (2017) Urban political ecologies of housing and climate change: the ‘Coolest Block’ Contest in Philadelphia. Urban Studies, 54 (5). pp. 1126-1141. ISSN 0042-0980

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Abstract

Urban authorities and a range of private and civil society actors have come to view housing as a key arena in which to address climate change whilst also pursuing wider social, economic and environmental objectives. Housing has been a critical area for urban studies, but often considered in sectoral terms and work on urban responses to climate change has followed this positioning. By contrast, an Urban Political Ecology (UPE) perspective would position housing in more integrated terms as part of the metabolism of the city. Yet so far there has been relatively little written in UPE about either housing or climate change. This paper therefore seeks to bring UPE into dialogue with the emergent literature focused on governing climate change through housing. It does so through a detailed study of the ‘Retrofit Philly “Coolest Block” Contest’. We argue that this contest highlights the ways climate change is changing the way housing is embedded in the circulations of the city, pointing to changes in who is governing housing, how housing is being governed and who is able to access the benefits of (climate change-branded) action on housing.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	climate change,governance,housing,philadelphia,urban political ecology,sdg 11 - sustainable cities and communities,sdg 13 - climate action ,/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/sustainable_cities_and_communities
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Global Development (formerly School of International Development) University of East Anglia Research Groups/Centres > Theme - ClimateUEA
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Centres > Water Security Research Centre Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Climate Change Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Global Environmental Justice
Depositing User:	Pure Connector
Date Deposited:	06 Dec 2015 02:08
Last Modified:	29 Jun 2025 00:21
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/55656
DOI:	10.1177/0042098015617907

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