Wild places and remote regions, once considered zones where people traveled as “explorers” or lived as peoples of the land, have come under increasing threat from human impact, including climate change. Amid the challenges of intensifying human activity, Antarctica is becoming an “anthropogenic landscape”—and the current governance system may be insufficient to meet the environmental protection obligations set out under the Madrid Protocol in 1991.
Antarctic Cities considers the five urban centers of Cape Town, Christchurch, Hobart, Punta Arenas, and Ushuaia, which are internationally recognized as the most important gateway cities to the Antarctic polar community. All five cities have a well-documented Antarctic cultural heritage, boast significant transport logistics, tourism, and scientific infrastructure, and are investing significantly in public engagement with the South Polar region. The authors examine how, by taking advantage of their cultural, ecological, economic, and political ties with Antarctica, these cities are rethinking how to be more than primary entry and exit points for polar science programs, adventure tourism, or commercial fishing industries. Antarctic Cities is a detailed interpretative study of the many ways these gateway cities are engaging with Antarctica, reimagining its connections, and planning their urban futures, by looking south and at each other as a network of Antarctic custodial urban centers.