Recap by MP

Topic recap sheet n°2 : Cities, urbanization and communities
Content / Documents :
Pictures : photos of Stik graffiti in London / Banksy graffiti in LA
Video : Street art / Stick and his stick figures / in defense of the NHS
Text : the attack on the Cereal Killer Café + two comments
Graph : evolution of the world’s population + http://www.unicef.org/sowc2012/urbanmap/
Civilisation / Culture : Examples of Social Protest movements
Peaky Blinders (season 1) and the gangster genre
Picture(s) (description & meaning)
Description : In this picture, we can see a graffiti by Banksy in
L.A. The word PARKING is written on the wall near a car park but
the “ING” is faded out. Under the letter A, a little girl is swinging
on a swing.
Meaning : That reveals that we need more green spaces in cities,
a place where children could play and people could walk their
dog. Street art is a way to shape the city the way we want, even
if it’s only in our minds.
Graph (description & meaning)
Description : This graph shows the proportion of people
living in cities among the global population from 1900 to
2050.
Meaning : We can see that the proportion is constantly
increasing, and 2010 is presented as the turning point. It
supports the view that whatever issues there are with city
life, it will be more and more urgent to solve them.
Megacities are the source of the problems and the source
of the solution because combatting climate change is
ultimately in the city’s best interest. (Smithsonian
Magazine, test n°1)
Vocabulary :
English
Class warfare
Inner cities
Suburbs
Residential areas
Gentrification
Unemployment
Living Standards
Household rubbish
French
Lutte des classes
Centre-ville
Banlieue
Quartier résidentiel
Gentrification
Chômage
Niveau de vie
Les ordures ménagères
English
A demonstration/riot
The working life
The working poor
A work permit
Well-off/well-to-do
Westernization
Child labor
Working condition
French
Manifestation/émeute
La vie active
Les travailleurs pauvres
Un permis de travail
Aisé/nanti
Occidentalisation
Le travail des enfants
Les conditions de travail
To Industrialize
Economic growth
The social divide
To scrape by
Working class
Middle-class
The under-class
Globalization
Inequality
Litter
A pollutant
A pollution peak
L’industrialisation
La croissance
economique
Le fossé social
Vivoter
Classe ouvrière
Classe moyenne
Classe inférieure
Mondialisation
Inégalités
Les déchets
Un polluant
Ethnic minority
Racial bias
Une minorité ethnique
Cultural diversity
Social integration
The Ozone layer
Biodiversity
Discrimination
Wildlife
Raw material
A national park
Deforestation
Diversité culturelle
Biais racial
L’intégration sociale
La couche d’ozone
La biodiversité
La discrimination
La faune et la flore
Matières premières
Un parc national
La deforestation
Un pic de pollution
Recent events, historical & cultural references mentioned in the
documents:
-Melbourne is the world’s most liveable city : it is mid-sized, offers numerous facilities, and is said to
be a ‘green’ city (Economist Ranking, 2014)
-The Shoreditch Cereal Killer cafe was targeted in anti-gentrification protests. London is becoming
more and more socially segregated, and the poor are forced to leave their neighbourhoods as prices
keep rising. The tower block on which Stik painted Big Mother is soon to be destroyed, and luxury
apartments will be built.
-Peaky Blinders presents a British version of the gangster film : it is set in Birmingham (an industrial
city in the North of England), and revolves around class warfare : the working class (and partly gipsy)
Shelby family finds a way to climb the social ladder by investing in gambling (bootlegging), and using
brains and brawn (l’intelligence et la force) to defeat their enemies. The city is presented as
segregated, dark and dirty, but at the same time, very lively, dynamic, and an opportunity to thrive.
Key expressions (grammar, syntax, translation...)
- to dispose of waste
-to monitor air quality
-the ‘polluter pays’ principle
-to destroy the biosphere
- to be threatened with extinction
-to be cut off from the rest of society
-to be on welfare / to live on welfare : vivre des allocations
-a two-tier society (une société à deux vitesses)
Document prepared with great care by : BECK Thomas, BONTEMPS Etienne, CALIXTE
Rémi, de LESTABLE Nicolas.