Anthropocene Histories - Cities

This seminar discusses the topic of 'Cities and the Anthropocene' through research on Latin America and the U.S. Cities are regularly invoked both as a cause of environmental crisis and a solution to it. On one hand, urban spaces are associated with overcrowding, pollution, and the disappearance of greenery. On the other hand, high-density cities are also promoted as a more sustainable way of housing people than suburban sprawl and a means of reducing carbon emissions by limiting transport emissions. Two historians of the environment and urbanisation, Adrián Lerner (Cambridge) and Pollyanna Rhee (Illinois Urbana-Champagne), will discuss the topic of 'Cities and the Anthropocene' through their own research on Latin America and the U.S., respectively. They will be in conversation with Andrew Seaton (UCL).