“Online Annotation 2”,
“Fossil fuel infrastructure demonstrates how technological systems create path dependency—oil refineries, gas pipelines, and coal plants represent trillions in sunk costs that resist transition despite devastating climate impacts. These systems don’t just emit carbon; they shape political power, urban design, and economic relationships that perpetuate dependence on extraction.”
“Urban” is a very interesting word to use because of what it implies. Of course it just means “city” as in “urban and rural societies”, but it also has a history of being used as a more genteel substitute for “Black/Asian/non-White”, in the same way “inner-city” does. It was even a category at the Grammys which was used to keep Black artists “in their place” and largely had the effect of minimising Black AOTY wins (a rap album hasn’t won AOTY at the Grammys since Speakerboxxx/The Love Below by Outkast in 2004); the category wasn’t removed until 2020 in response to growing public outcry. To avoid these associations and confusion generally, it is best to use “city design” directly. ♦