‘"Apologies for disrupting your top twenty countdown.’ The DJ’s smooth, deep voice was more suited to dropping sweet nothings than issuing fake apologies. ‘Our friends at the Zambia Meteorological Centre have sent out an amber warning for an incoming dust storm. All areas of Lusaka are affected. That’s a dust storm, bantu banga. Stay in, stay safe."’
'She pulls a face. “Language and hidden histories matter. It’s from Kora, the tongue of the First People of the Cape, the now extinct Khoe. It means sweet water for all. The First Name for this place.”'
"Our way of life is no longer sustainable, if we want to survive we have to adjust to the world, adapt and embrace it. For thousands of years humanity has tried to shape the world in its image. We failed and did so much damage to the world in the process. Now, we pay it back."'
After a disaster, technology protects some people and some places but not others: '“Do you think the people on the outside are okay?” “Seeing as they’re always trying to get in here, I take it they’re not.”.“We should just let them in.” “We— We can’t.” “Why?”'
The futuristic city becomes a utopian gaze, setting the stage for us to rethink and see urban planning as an intrinsic aspect of climate justice.
'Humans had managed to build a community up here, where no life was thought to be possible. It had been thirteen years since the Call, thirteen years since the oceans had swelled and a thousand species had ballooned overnight to titanic proportions, replacing humankind as the apex predator of the world.'