Marius Pieterse

I have just returned from Dublin, where I presented a paper comparing constitutional and legislative dimensions of urban autonomy across different major cities in the SADC, at the fourth City Futures conference, hosted jointly by the European Urban Research Association (EURA) and the Urban Affairs Association (UAA). The theme for the conference was “Creating Just and Sustainable Cities”. There was plenty on the menu for urban law and governance types – I especially enjoyed sessions on inter-municipal co-operation and on institutionalising the right to the city. My own session on urban autonomy featured interesting papers from Israel and the USA, showcasing both the potential and the dangers of autonomous city government.