Contributions to Thinking About Interspecies Urbanism

Abstract

The concept and design of urban spaces following the standard of hegemonic individuals is criticized by alternative lines of thought which conceive cities on the basis of human diversity. Such objections, however, disregard the fact that those individuals, as a primary distinctive feature, belong to the homo sapiens species, which has implications since the conception of territory and urban space is centered around those individuals. At the outset, this last aspect appears to be dilemmatic as we live among individuals forming part of different biological groups. Due to this fact, the aim of this essay is to analyse the concept of critical urban planning that takes a more intersectional and non-anthropocentric approach. I accordingly support the theories on disability which raise objections to the traditional urban planning framework based on city dwellers. I shall therefore critically consider the capacity-model reference, stating the anthropocentric reasons to reject the traditional way of thinking. I shall base my arguments on the reasons underlying the traditional framework, being speciesist in nature from the point of view of animal ethics, which actively interact with the notion of ableism based on a crip animal approach. Finally, I shall consider the political changes supporting the latest reflections related to animal rights, with a view to depicting their implications in the context of urban planning.