In a world of disruptions and seemingly endless complexity, cities have become central to thinking about the future of humanity. Yet the study of cities is fragmented among different silos of expertise, diverse genres of scholarship, and widening chasms between theory and practice. How can we do better?
Cities Rethought suggests that we need to remake the way we see and know cities in order to rethink how we act and intervene within them. To this end, it offers the contours of a new urban disposition. Its normative, analytical, and operational elements offer an opportunity for scholars, practitioners, and citizens alike to approach the complexity of cities anew.
Written collectively for a wide audience, the text draws from cities across the global north and south, speaks across diverse genres of ideas, and reflects on the lived experience of the authors as both researchers and practitioners. It is an essential text for anyone committed to knowing their own cities as well as finding ways to meaningfully intervene in them.
Table of Contents
Prologue: A Note to the Reader1 An Urban Disposition
Dear Reader
Three elements
Putting the three together
How to read this book
And so
2 Normative Locations
What is the fabric of the city?
How do you consume a deleted future?
What kind of fight can you pick in the city?
What is the urbanity of the state?
What evidence matters for cities?
Taking stock
3 Analytical Redescriptions
Choosing our puzzles
Improving an estate
Upstream of the river
Repairing patchworks
The propensity of lychees
Spaces across the aisle
Amidst the numbers
Taking stock
4 Operational Moves
Mapping the operational ecosystem
Modalities of change in systems
Sensing a pulse
Evaluating our moves
Moving an idea within a system
Building a social imagination
A life in practice
A Parting Note
