Geo-care: A step towards sustainable cities

Description

Cracks are appearing in our decades-old frameworks for building cities. By applying the concept of “care” to the study of cities, geographer Michel Lussault is calling for a new way of imagining urban areas. This new vision would be developed through co-operation with all urban stakeholders. For decades, the bulk of urban policy has been built around the idea of the metropolis. Based on the principles of power, attractiveness and excellence, this development model strives to “lift up” entire areas and bring their residents trickle-down benefits. As professor Lussault finds in his book Cohabitons! Pour une nouvelle urbanité terrestre (Paris, Éditions du Seuil, 2025), the pandemic revealed the serious cracks in the model. Building on this analysis, he suggests applying Joan Tronto’s concept of care to the study of cities to create a new way of imagining them: the “caring city.” This notion rests on developing practices of co-operation among urban stakeholders.

Guest Speaker

Michel Lussault is a geographer and professor at the Université de Lyon (at the École normale supérieure de Lyon, an affiliate institution). Professor Lussault is a member of the Environment, City, Society research laboratory (joint research unit 5600, National Centre for Scientific Research / Université de Lyon) and the Université de Lyon’s Intelligence of Urban Worlds Laboratory of Excellence. An internationally recognized Francophone expert in theoretical geography and urban studies, professor Lussault has authored over 120 academic articles and books in several languages since 1990.