Are we seeing the emergence of a new conjuncture for urbanism? The final part of our mini series asks whether authoritarian neoliberalism has created the conditions for a more illiberal and distinct type of urban governance . Authoritarianism is not new to neoliberalism – the Pinochet regime, Thatcherism in the UK – these were evidently authoritarian and neoliberal, and given crises and stagnation it is no surprise to see these tendencies re-animated. But is something more also happening? The high point of neoliberal hegemony was associated with the development of technocratic, often obscure, market systems as well as notions of ‘sustainable development and even at times ‘participation’ and ‘consensus’ even if these were highly circumscribed. When we look at some new urban projects today, and those envisaged by leading powers, there seems to be less room for both markets, preventing climate breakdown or ‘woke’ notions of democracy and instead a more naked focus on iconoclastic real estate projects regardless of the social and ecological cost.

Today it seems fairly obvious to say that urban government has become more authoritarian – there is vastly increased levels of surveillance, violent and militarised policing of dissent and the targeting of migrant, queer and ethnic minority communities. Building on the previous episode on ‘authoritarian populism’, the panel discussion focuses on the ‘authoritarian practices’ of urban governments. We discuss issues of scale i.e. the relationship between central and municipal government and global capital flows drawing on research on Turkey, Mexico, India, Russia and Eastern Europe. We cover overtly draconian practices such as violent crackdowns on protestors and the more subtle ‘sabotaging’ of accountability for key sections of capital – developers, big tech – and national infrastructure and whether this takes us beyond the era of neoliberal urban governance.

Across the world, a rightward populist turn is reshaping politics, everyday life, and the spaces we inhabit. This series examines the rise of authoritarian urbanism born from the convergence of state power, militarised violence, infrastructure-led development, and racialised and religious nationalism. As neoliberalism faces a crisis of legitimacy, these forces work to consolidate control and drive new waves of urbanisation that deepen social polarisation. Alongside these authoritarian transformations, we trace the everyday democratic practices—subtle acts, collective refusals, and imaginative alternatives—that contest authoritarian rule and open space for different urban futures. Through conversations with researchers, activists, and practitioners, the series takes stock of this authoritarian conjuncture and asks how power, urbanisation, and resistance intersect in shaping our worlds.

This episode is our 100th! We are delighted that we have reached this landmark and thank all our listeners and contributors since we started the Urban Political in 2019. To mark the occasion of this 100th podcast we have produced a special issue containing two parts, in which we look backwards and forwards on all things Urban and Political.

In the first part, Markus Kip and Ross Beveridge talk to Mathilde Gustavussen about the origins of the podcast, why they set up the podcast, how things have changed since the beginning and what their favourite episodes are.

Thanks for your support as a listener!

What does it mean to be at 'home', when 'home' is the expression of structural forms of violence, at the intersection of anthropocentrism, patriarchy, heteronormativity and racial capitalism? As the COVID-19 pandemic showed, home can be read as a juncture where many of the inequalities of our time come and are held together structurally; yet, at the same time, home maintains an attractive lure to itself, as a place one is called to defend or to work toward, in order to be freed from subjections that seem to render home impossible in the first place. In this talk, the aim is to stay close to this only apparent contradiction, which Michele would like to name the “impossible possibility of home.” With this notion, he interprets the unjust and violent foundations of home not as opposite to, but as foundational to, its capacity to allude to one’s own betterment in terms of belonging, security, and care. This means to say that the lure of home as a space of belonging is emerging from the foundations of home itself, rather than being a means toward salvation from its violence. The impossible possibility of home lies in home’s capacity to sell a diagram of liberation as a line of flight, a breakthrough from its unjust underpinnings, while in immanent, lived, and felt terms, that diagram is a very powerful function of those.

This is our second episode in collaboration with the ‘Where is Urban Politics?’ hybrid seminar series hosted by the University of Groningen in the Netherlands between 2024-2026.

We dedicate this episode to the extraordinary urban filmmaker and tireless social-justice advocate, Mark Saunders, who passed away recently at the age of 68. Mark’s powerful contributions to documentary filmmaking, particularly through Despite TV, gave voice to the marginalized and illuminated urgent political and social issues across the globe. His unwavering commitment to storytelling, empathy, and justice left an indelible mark on everyone who knew him—and his legacy will continue to inspire activists, filmmakers, and listeners alike.

In this episode Ross Beveridge, co-founder of our Podcast, and guests discuss the topic of digital cities and democracy.

Digitalisation is transforming cities, urbanization and urban life – but how is it changing urban politics?

Ross discusses these questions with 4 scholars who have recently published important books in this field:

Myria Georgiou, who is a Professor of Media and Communications and Head of the Department of Media and Communications at LSE. She is the author of the book: Being Human in Digital Cities, published by Polity Press.

Rob Kitchin, who is a professor in the Maynooth University Social Sciences Institute at Maynooth University. He is the author of Critical Data Studies: An A to Z Guide to Concepts and Methods, published by Polity Press.

Yu-Shan Tseng, who is an Anniversary Research Fellow in Geography at the University of Southampton. She is the author of Liquid democracy: a comparative study of digital urban democracy, published by Wiley & Sons.

Justus Uitermark, who is Professor of Urban Geography and the Academic Director of the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research at the University of Amsterdam. He is the author, with Petter Törnberg, of Seeing Like a Platform An Inquiry into the Condition of Digital Modernity, published by Routledge.

To what extent does the current polycrisis intensify in urban settings during nighttime hours? Night lives are already characterized by precarity, urban inequalities, deeply seeded health and wellbeing concerns and a life 'in the shadows'. In this Polycrisis series episode, Michele Acuto, Andreina Seijas and Alessio Kolioulis take us on a "walking roundtable", recorded on the road after dark in London. The speakers discuss how nighttime perspectives shape how we encounter the urban polycrisis. They reflect on how night studies, and practice, prompt embedded thinking on the intersections of urban health, climate, economics and conflict with the experiences of dwelling, living and working in the city after dark. Crisis talk is being challenged through night talk, while the everyday dimensions of polycrisis are being considered, as they unfold in the mundanities of the night. The talk encourages us to engage with this world of urban research and practice by mixing a scholarly discussion, an insight into the urban challenges of a global city after dark, and a consideration of current solutions to improving nightlife inclusively, while taking us out on the streets of London after midnight.

This episode will be conducted in Spanish, in line with the podcast's aim to de-center urban knowledge production by showcasing distinctive urban perspectives, and linguistic viewpoints.