Episode #4

In the fourth episode of the Climate Change in the Arab World mini-series, MARCH student Bisher Tabbaa speaks with Gökçe Günel about utopian city projects, sustainable futures, and social justice with a specific focus on Masdar City in the UAE. While speaking about her book (Spaceship in the Desert: Energy, Climate Change, and Urban Design in Abu Dhabi), Günel explains how Masdar City is a status quo utopia.

Gökçe Günel is Assistant Professor in Anthropology at Rice University. Her research focuses on energy, climate change and urban design, and examines the production of knowledge, technology, and governance regarding infrastructure. Her articles have been published in Ephemera, Anthropology News, Public Culture, Anthropological Quarterly, The Yearbook of Comparative Literature, The ARPA Journal, Avery Review, The Fibreculture Journal, and PoLAR among others.

Masaha is a student association at GSAPP that investigates contemporary issues facing the Arab world. This mini-series consists of conversations with designers, practitioners, and scholars whose work responds to the issue of climate change, which is affecting populations worldwide with devastating impacts on the livelihoods and welfare of vulnerable communities. (This conversation was recorded remotely in June 2021.)