Grassroots vs. Burned Grass: A History of Wheat, Pollution, and Advocacy on the Palouse

September 10, 2026.Reading time 25 minutes.

This is the first entry in our 10th Annual Graduate Student Blogging Contest, “Revolution.” By Sarah Daisy Amador Farmers in the Palouse, a pastoral region encompassing southeastern Washington and central Idaho, burned 11,057 acres of Kentucky bluegrass stubble after harvest on September 12, 1994. The following morning, an acute asthma attack claimed the life of […]

From Colonial Garden to Public Stadium: Eden Gardens and the Urban History of Play in Kolkata

September 8, 2026.Reading time 13 minutes.

This is the ninth post in our themed series, Cities at Play. By Jason Collins To this day, Eden Gardens is fondly remembered as one of the greatest cricket venues of the modern world, a reputation built on its scale, longevity, and atmosphere. The ICC lists its current seating capacity at around 68,000 and notes that […]

Playing the City: Ganesh Utsav and the Politics of Urban Public Space

June 26, 2026.Reading time 14 minutes.

This is the eighth post in our themed series, Cities at Play. By Sameer Chandavarkar Every year, Mumbai changes its rhythm—deliberately. Roads that are usually choked with traffic slow down or shut entirely as temporary pandals (elaborate festival structures housing Ganesh idols) are set up across neighborhoods. Intersections turn into gathering points where residents participate […]

Where Heritage Becomes Habit: Everyday Play with the Roman Past in a Spanish City

June 18, 2026.Reading time 19 minutes.

This is the seventh post in our series, Cities at Play. By Sandra Coffey In Tarragona, a coastal city in Catalunya, Spain, the past sits so casually in the Plaça del Fòrum that many first-time visitors stop in disbelief. Here, 1st century Roman ruins, the surviving remnants of the Provincial Forum of Roman Tarraco, lie […]

Danger Was Normal: Living with Risk on the Edge of Mexico City

June 15, 2026.Reading time 11 minutes.

By Anna Rose The night before the explosion, the air in San Juanico felt heavy and hot, as though it was boiling. But that feeling was nothing new. The residents of San Juanico, a neighborhood on the northern outskirts of Mexico City, had long lived with hot, stagnant air and the pungent smell of gas. […]

Urban Ruins, Disease, and the Policing of Women in Istanbul’s Fire-Ravaged Zones

June 10, 2026.Reading time 11 minutes.

By Zehra Betül Atasoy One night in 1910, a woman named Şükrüye was accused of wandering through a burned neighborhood in Istanbul with unidentified men. Her alleged offense was not a clearly defined criminal act, but rather her presence in a fire-ravaged urban space at night, in the company of men whose identities remained unknown. […]

Call for Contributors: Selling the City

May 29, 2026.Reading time 2 minutes.

The Metropole is pleased to solicit pitches for our upcoming theme month: Selling the City. We welcome submissions focused on efforts to brand and market cities, build infrastructure supporting urban commerce, and drive urban tourism, as well as posts on financialization and real estate as factors shaping cities. Present-day examples that make appeals to the […]

Cruising the Mother Road: Lowriders and the Performance of Chicano Urban Play in Albuquerque

May 28, 2026.Reading time 16 minutes.

This is the sixth post in our themed series, Cities at Play. By Desiree Beare On summer evenings along Central Avenue in Albuquerque, the city’s historic stretch of Route 66 becomes something more than a transportation corridor: it becomes a stage. Lowriders glide slowly past neon signs and crowded sidewalks, their chrome catching the desert […]

From Playground to Panopticon: Colonial Youth Welfare and the Shaping of Urban Leisure in Lagos and Nairobi

May 22, 2026.Reading time 19 minutes.

This is the fifth post in our themed series, Cities at Play. By Ahmadu Abubakar From Playground to Panopticon: Colonial Youth Welfare and the Shaping of Urban Leisure in Lagos and Nairobi In the late 1940s, colonial authorities in Nairobi began to express growing concern about what they referred to as “the presence and increasing […]

The Unifying Role of Sporting Venues for Black Pittsburgh

May 14, 2026.Reading time 17 minutes.

This is the fourth post in our theme series for May, Cities at Play. By Dan Holland This year’s NFL Draft, held in Pittsburgh from April 23rd-25th, attracted an estimated 800,000 fans over three days, a record reinforcing the importance of sport to cities in the post-industrial era. Sport has long been deeply embedded in […]