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Stalled Futures: Infrastructure, Ruination, and Urban Ambitions in East Africa
This talk explores the political and temporal life of infrastructure in East African cities, focusing on the Tanzanite Bridge in Dar es Salaam and the stalled La Gare redevelopment in Addis Ababa. Through these case studies, it interrogates how megaprojects—often celebrated as symbols of progress—can entrench exclusion, serve elite interests, and become suspended in speculative futures. Drawing on urban theory and original research, the session reflects on how ruination, finance, and geopolitical ambition shape both the material and imaginative landscapes of African urbanism.
The speaker, Zayaan, studied BA Land Economy at Cambridge and is currently pursuing an MSc in Environmental Change and Management at Oxford. With a passion for cities, infrastructure, finance, and the political economy of the built environment, Zayaan brings an interdisciplinary lens to questions of development globally. The session invites interactive discussion and reflection on what inclusive, just infrastructure might look like.
Date:
25 June 2025, 12:00
Venue:
Dyson Perrins Building, off South Parks Road OX1 3QY
Venue Details:
Desert Room
Speaker:
Zayaan Merchant (Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford)
Organising department:
Environmental Change Institute
Organiser:
Dr Avidesh Seenath (Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford)
Organiser contact email address:
avidesh.seenath@eci.ox.ac.uk
Host:
Dr Avidesh Seenath (Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford)
Part of:
ECM Brown Bag Seminar Series
Booking required?:
Not required
Audience:
Members of the University only
Editor:
Avidesh Seenath
