The Politics of Shade
Shade plays a crucial role in the ways that the informally or precariously employed residents of the southern City manage their exposure to heat. But few people experience shade as an inalienable right.
In Karachi we are exploring how shade - as a potential quality of materials, structures, greenery and urban space - is something that must be claimed; alongside any other right or entitlement.
The politics of shade have a long history, and we link them to a colonial legacy of spatial and thermal inequalities. Today, however,, people’s struggles to find and claim shade is being transformed and considerably constrained by visions of what a ‘world class city’ should look like.