The politics of producing urban expertise: institutions, urban praxis and the “new” citizen expert

Abstract

ABSTRACT This special issue of Urban Geography makes an important contribution to understanding the politics of urban expertise. It draws attention to a counter-movement for urban epistemic justice through examining how politics matter in valuing different forms of expertise. Yet systematic consideration of the institutions of knowledge production is often missing from many debates on the politics of urban expertise. Expertise is not free-floating, but is produced in particular and specific contexts. Beyond methods, the production of urban expertise involves strategies and tactics that constitute a critical urban praxis, one that navigates between critique and engagement for the just city. Whilst battlelines may be drawn between traditional and citizen experts, as demonstrated in the pandemic, such a praxis needs to navigate carefully between the wholesale embrace or dismissal of different forms of expertise.