More-than-Human Urban Politics in a Brave Green World

Cities are home to many animals that are neither pets nor wildlife: street dogs, birds that settle where nobody planned for them, animals we watch on our screens. This thesis asks how people and these in-between animals shape the city together. It follows three cases: wild barnacle geese that made their home inside Helsinki Zoo, street dogs and the people who care for them in Tbilisi, Georgia, and orangutans watched and discussed by viewers online. The research shows that politics with animals does not only happen through laws and debates. It also happens through everyday practices such as feeding, naming, sharing space and redesigning it. When people and animals repeat these practices, they change how places work and who belongs there. The thesis argues that if visions of greener cities are to succeed, they need to learn from the challenges, joys and wisdom of these everyday encounters.