Paradoxical Urbanism: Anti-Urban Currents in Modern Urbanism
In: Springer eBook Collection
'Paradoxical Urbanism takes us far away, through competing versions of history, different cities read by different disciplines, takes us into many possible pasts and futures. By doing so, the book asks awkward questions about our cities now—and in the new, C-19 now and whatever might follow, these awkward, complex questions are more pressing than ever. Malcolm Miles sets out a persuasive and pressing case for an alternative and contemporary urban imaginary.' —Dr Stephen Walker, Head of Architecture, The University of Manchester 'Malcolm Miles has a very nuanced way of writing. His books are never about convincing the reader to a particular argument, instead he prefers to look for cracks in existing discourses and build intricate hypotheses. This beautiful book distinctively discusses the anti-urban tendencies inherent in modern urban theories and practices. It is written for independent thinkers and is a great intellectual pleasure to read.' —Dr Krzysztof Nawratek, School of Architecture, The University of Sheffield Modernist urbanism seems progressive, even Utopian: design for a better world through a democratic and humane built environment. But two currents undermine this vision from within: an Arcadianism which turns to a rural idyll as retreat from change and the effects of industrialization; and an instrumentalism by which the humane vision becomes prescriptive and anti-democratic. Malcolm Miles argues that these two currents undermine modernism's progressive vision. This book examines the roots of modernist urbanism in the seamless, self-contained systems of Cartesian space; and identifies contradictions within modernist urbanism in its instrumentalism and reliance on de-politicised professional expertise. Miles adroitly reviews the postmodern culture of industrial ruinscapes; and posits that if cities are to be places of proximity, diversity, mobility and agency, this will require a move from modernist instrumentalism to a creative and radically democratic co-production of the built environment.
In: Springer eBook Collection
Intro -- Introduction -- Contents -- List of Figures -- Chapter 1: Colliding Utopias -- Words and Places -- Representations and Narratives -- The Urban Village -- Nostalgia -- Community and Society in Early Sociology -- A Metropolitan Imaginary -- Colliding Dreams -- Chapter 2: From Arcadia to Plotlands -- Port Sunlight -- Arcadia -- The Landscaped Park -- Rousham -- Mortality and Liberalism -- The Garden City -- Working-class Arcadias -- Chapter 3: Drawing a Line -- Methods of Thinking -- Cosmopolis? -- Drawing a Line -- Nuanced Spaces -- Chapter 4: The Contradictions of Modernism -- After the Bombing -- Looking Forward -- Design for a Humane World -- Divided Spaces -- The Heart of the City -- Lived Spaces? -- Chapter 5: Post-industrial Ruinscapes -- New Wastelands -- The Ruhr -- Duisburg Nord -- Industrial Nuances -- Unsanctioned Use and Urban Exploration -- Chapter 6: An Urban Revolution? -- Another Kind of City? -- The Rural in the City -- The Inscription of the City -- Domestic Space as Urban Revolution -- A Right to the City -- Changing Cities -- Index.
Urban geography, Urban planning, City planning, Human geography, Europa, Stadtplanung, Stadtleben, Landleben, Bürgerbeteiligung, DA-3
Englisch
Palgrave Macmillan
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