Technologies of the City : A Case of Compact City Planning in Ulaanbaataar City, Mongolia(<Special Theme>An Anthropology of the Multiple Temporalities of the City)

<p>In recent years, anthropological research based on STS (science, technology and society) has been a major trend in contemporary anthropology. But in anthropological urban studies, less attention has been given to the technical aspects of the city. In this paper, I present a case study of a pilot project for the implementation of a compact city model within the city planning of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, especially from the point of view of the reduction of urban air pollution. Theoretically, I aim to locate this case study by extending the studies of the "technology of the city" -borrowing from Michel Foucault and Paul Rabinow- and link it to urban anthropological studies and STS. Rabinow borrowed the term "bio-technico-political" from Foucault to analyze modernity: namely, as a field of power relations composed of both discursive and nondiscursive practices. Investigating that aspect, I suggest the possibility of an anthropology of the city focused on the "obduracy" of the city in urban socio-technical change. Since the end of the 20th century, the population of Ulaanbaatar City has increased rapidly because of urban migration. Most of the newcomers from the countryside have settled in "Ger areas" (a "ger" is a traditional Mongolian tent) in the periphery of Ulaanbaatar. The population of such Ger areas now accounts for about 60% of the city's population. The air pollution caused by smoke from ger chimneys has become a major urban problem in Ulaanbaatar. In this paper, I introduce three methods of intervention as technologies of the city to address that urban problem as a phenomenon of obduracy in urban socio-technical change. In doing so, I aim to clarify the process of the transformation of the technology of the city, showing how the obdurate urban structure sustaining the urban environmental problem can become malleable. The first method of intervention has been to carry out traditional urban planning, based on constructing apartment buildings in the Ger areas. That method has been implemented since socialist days, and still takes place in current urban planning. Indeed, one major aim of the urban planning for Ulaanbaatar, approved by the Mongolian government in 2002, is to replace Ger areas with apartments (section 1 of chapter III). But in 2003, land privatization was initiated in the Ger areas for citizens' dwellings, making it difficult to replace entire Ger areas by constructing apartment buildings (section 2 of chapter III). The second method of intervention has been to carry out community-based development projects (section 3 of chapter II). In my paper, I focus on a project implemented by UDRC (Urban Development Research Center), a local NGO in Ulaanbaatar. The main activities of the UDRC are based on the implementation of the community-based development approach to improving the living environment of Ger areas in Ulaanbaatar. Its main objective is "to encourage collaborative activities that would promote sustainable development and poverty reduction in urban areas." To achieve that objective, they establish savings groups (community-based organizations) in Ger areas. I introduce a case study of one CBO and show how it has improved the living environment. One noteworthy character of the membership of the CBO is that all are new landowners and their family members. Except for the landowners, all people (including temporary dwellers in gers) do not qualify for membership in the CBO. That poses a difficult problem for the reduction of urban air pollution, however, because the pollution caused by smoke from ger chimneys is the same whether one is a landowner or not. The third method of intervention has been to carry out a pilot project for the implementation of a compact city model in the city planning for Ulaanbaatar (chapter IV). I present a case study of city planning technology as described in a</p><p>(View PDF for the rest of the abstract.)</p>