Forum on the Urban Environment // AGAINST URBAN INNOCENCE
Javier Bonilla, Princeton Initiative Fellow; Matthew Johnson, High Meadows Environmental Institute
Wed, 9/23 · 12:00 pm—1:15 pm · School of Architecture
Princeton Initiative in Architecture, Urbanism & the Humanities
Fire, Water, and the Panama Canal: The Techno-politics of Urban Protection
This talk examines how the construction of the Panama Canal transformed firefighting in Panama City and Colón by tying urban protection to U.S.-controlled water infrastructure. Tracing the shift from locally organized fire protection to a fragmented, cross-border system, it shows how fire and water became arenas in which technology, sovereignty, and urban governance were negotiated.
The Fall 2026 Forum is supported by the School of Architecture; Center for Collaborative History; Humanities Council; High Meadows Environmental Institute; Program in Latin American Studies; Department of Sociology; and the Lewis Center for the Arts.
