The social and material lives of urban soil

Summary

The import of soils to urban living is increasingly recognised in terms of dealing with contamination, fostering restoration and food security, and promoting urban liveability. Yet, soil processes and health have received scant attention in social sciences. Developing a case study of CERES (Melbourne) analysed through social theory, this pilot project asks: how does soil become understood and managed through urban everyday practices?

Aims and Activities

The aims of this project are to:

1. Identify and critically analyse ways in which urban soils are materially and conceptually remade through urban agriculture/restoration initiatives

2. Leverage insights from this pilot project to develop an international collaboration on urban soils

Project Team

Dr Catherine Phillips, Lecturer, School of Geography

Dr Timothy Neale, DECRA Senior Research Fellow, Faculty of Arts and Education