Contents:
Using spatial political economy as his most important reference point, Alexander Cuthbert both interrogates and challenges mainstream urban design and provides an alternative and viable comprehensive framework for a new synthesis. He rejects the idea of yet another theory in urban design, and chooses instead to construct the necessary intellectual and conceptual scaffolding for what he terms 'The New Urban Design'.
Building both on Michel de Certeau's concept of heterology — 'thinking about thinking' — and on the framework of his previous books Designing Cities and The Form of Cities , Cuthbert uses his prior adopted framework — history, philosophy, politics, culture, gender, environment, aesthetics, typologies and pragmatics — to create three integrated texts. Overall, the trilogy allows a new field of urban design to emerge.
Pre-existing and new knowledge are integrated across all three volumes, of which Understanding Cities is the culminating text. Cuthbert places urban design in the context of urban political economy: For design professionals, Cuthbert offers a robust new intellectual framework. For social scientists, Cuthbert demonstrates the importance of theorizing urban design and development. In this last instalment of his major trilogy, Alexander Cuthbert presents us with a framework of knowledge that is essential for urban designers.
This is a major intellectual contribution to the urban design field, one that flatly and rightly rejects physical determinism and the notion that urban design is merely large scale architecture.
As a meeting place, the city provided opportunities for social exchange of information of all kinds. Using spatial political economy as his most important reference point, Alexander Cuthbert both interrogates and challenges mainstream urban design and provides an alternative and viable comprehensive framework for a new synthesis. Notify me of new posts by email. The shopping mall isn't dead yet. The beautiful Icelandic tradition of giving books on Christmas Eve. This is a major intellectual contribution to the urban design field, one that flatly and rightly rejects physical determinism and the notion that urban design is merely large scale architecture.
Cuthbert deconstructs the old paradigm and skilfully reconstructs a much more robust one that draws from the social sciences and spatial political economy to enhance our understanding of cities and their design. With his three book 'tour de force' Cuthbert makes a seminal contribution to outlining a unified field for Urban Design so that it can assert its place among the built environment disciplines.
Understanding Cities invites scholars and reflexive practitioners to understand and build upon the knowledge shaping the discourse of new Urban Design.
Difficult choices have to be made by different parties with different interests; by citizens who know nothing about planning or urban design and just like things the way they are. Then there are developers who know nothing about planning other than it takes money and they have it. Then there are the planners and nobody knows what they think because they take their orders from the politicians who take money from one side and votes from the other.
Understanding Cities is richly textured, complex and challenging. It creates the vital link between urban design theory and praxis and opens the required. Understanding Cities: Method in Urban Design. Alexander R. Cuthbert. London, Routledge, , pp., ISBN 0 4. This book is the concluding.
No wonder our cities are such a mess. There is enough leveraging, crafting and interlinking going on to scare the uninitiated, mixing startup business jargon with planning jargon, the worst of all possible worlds. Millions of people step up to the city design table each week. People from civic associations, the public works department, the mayor, PTAs, engineering firms, architects, homeowners' associations, chambers of commerce. And they all have one thing in common, there is no one good resource that captures every aspect of city design in one place.
Until now, with City Design Method Cards. The cards describe aspects of urban planning, design, and governance. The app has all the cards, updates and links to more information. It seems odd, in this day of computers and instant access to information from all kinds of sources, to rely on old fashioned cards.
On the other hand, one can have too much information, too many choices. Perhaps simplifying, getting down to basic principles and definitions, dare I say curating, is a good approach to speeding up the planning and urban design process. See more at the Kickstarter site and be sure to watch the video, it explains it so much better than the copy. Can't get enough TreeHugger?
Sign up now and have it sent straight to your inbox.