Like Grenfell Tower, they reveal much about the political structures shaping our citiesFlames were still visible inside the charred shell of Grenfell Tower when the backlash to the backlash began. “Too much political point-scoring going on about the Grenfell Tower tragedy,” complained one user on Twitter, hours after news of the devastating fire broke. Over the centuries, different strategies aimed at avoiding urban fires have been used to entrench the autocratic nature of some regimes, or to showcase the supposedly enlightened and modernist credentials of others. One thing we can be sure of, though, is that this will not be the last time that urban fires spark crises in the political status quo. San Francisco, 1906Facebook Twitter Pinterest People on Sacramento street watch smoke rise from fires after an 8.3 earthquake hit in San Francisco, 1906.

Source: The Guardian July 04, 2017 06:32 UTC