The Form of Cities: Political Economy and Urban Design

The Form of Cities offers readers a considered theoretical introduction to the art of designing cities. It encourages them to go beyond abstract social science into the realm of human experience, aesthetics, and the creative process in order to understand why cities are how they are; and it demonstrates that cities are replete with symbolic values, collective memory, association, and conflict.

The book reviews existing theoretical interpretations underpinning the subject and suggests a new understanding based in political economy. It then refines this approach, elaborating particular ways of conceptualising the city, whether through aesthetics or the prism of gender. The result is an engagingly written text, eschewing jargon but retaining a sophisticated interpretative edge.


Spis treści:
List of Figures List of Tables.
Preface.
Acknowledgements.
Introduction.
1. Theory.
Introduction: The Problem.
Urban Design: Definitions.
Urban Design: ‘Theory’.
Spatial Political Economy and Urban Design.
2. History.
Introduction: What is History?.
History and Urban Design.
Chronologies.
Typologies.
Utopias.
Fragments.
Materialist Theory Overview.
3. Philosophy.
Introduction: Implications from Philosophy.
Philosophy and Urbanism Paradigms.
Philosophy and Urban Design 4. Politics.
Introduction: Politics and Ideology.
Power: Rights and Laws Law as Ideology.
Politics and Urban Planning.
The Public Realm.
5. Culture.
Introduction: Culture and Urban Design.
The Culture of Modernism.
Postmodern Culture.
Globalisation, Culture, Economy.
Authenticity and Symbolic Representation.
The New Ruralism/Urbanism.
6. Gender.
Introduction: Gender the Missing Component.
Gender and Society Gender and Patriarchy.
Gender and Capital.
Gender and Space.
Gender and Urban Design.
7. Environment.< br>Introduction: Nature and the City.
Origins and Development.
People–Nature.
Sustainability and Development.
Sustainable Cities.
Sustainable Urban Design.
8. Aesthetics.
Introduction: Aesthetics – Objects and Experience.
The Aesthetics of Urban Form.
Mathematics and the Divine Order.
Contextualism.
Rationalism.
Symbolic Capital.
Regulation.
Theming.
9. Typologies.
Introduction: Taxonomy, Typology, Morphology, System.
Typologies Derived from Associated Disciplines.
Typologies Derived from Traditional Urban Design Perspectives.
Implications from Spatial Political Economy.
10. Pragmatics.
Introduction: Cultural Capital.
Professional Intervention.
Professions and Knowledge Systems.
Professions and Space.
Urban Design Education Postscript.
References.
Index

Nota biograficzna:
Alexander R. Cuthbert is Professor of Planning and Urban Development at the University of New South Wales, Sydney. He has studied architecture, urban design, urban planning, and political science and has a doctorate from the London School of Economics and Political Science. His previous publications include Designing Cities (Blackwell, 2003), which serves as a prequel to this book.

Okładka tylna:
The Form of Cities offers readers a considered theoretical introduction to the art of designing cities. It encourages them to go beyond abstract social science into the realm of human experience, aesthetics, and the creative process in order to understand why cities are how they are; and it demonstrates that cities are replete with symbolic values, collective memory, association, and conflict.

The book reviews existing theoretical interpretations underpinning the subject and suggests a new understanding based in political economy. It then refines this approach, elaborating particular ways of conceptualising the city, whether thr ough aesthetics or the prism of gender. The result is an engagingly written text, eschewing jargon but retaining a sophisticated interpretative edge.