Politics & Governance / Public Policy / Urban Planning & Governance

Your City Is A Lie: How Urbanization Hides A Brutal War On The Poor (Cities, Space And Power)

Cities, Space and Power

Amira Osman

What if the city you live in isn't built for you? What if the glittering skyline, the booming property values, and the 'revitalized' neighborhoods are actually a carefully designed machine to strip the future from the poorest citizens? This video is a deep dive into the groundbreaking book *Cities, Space and Power*, edited by Amira Osman. We travel from the favelas of Brazil to the architecture schools of South Africa and the streets of Khartoum. We expose the 'encryption of power'—how elite language and zoning laws hide a war on the poor. Discover how a suburban lawn is a 'political coffin,' why 90% of South African architects are still white, and how the lack of a toilet is a deliberate economic strategy. But it's not all doom and gloom. We also explore incredible acts of resistance, from the 500,000-person economic miracle of Durban's Warwick Junction to the Sudanese protesters who built a new city to topple a dictatorship. This is a radical, anti-common-sense look at the concrete beneath your feet. You will never see your city the same way again.