Enabling Urban Alternatives

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiv

   PDF

2. Introduction: Introducing Urban Alternatives

   • Jens Kaae Fisker, Letizia Chiappini, Lee Pugalis, Antonella Bruzzese

   Pages 1-19

3. Thinking the Urban Differently

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 21-21

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   2. ‘This Situation Can Be Duplicated’: Text as Radical Placemaking Tool

      • George Francis Bickers

      Pages 23-42

   3. Terrains and Landscapes of Urban Politics

      • Jens Kaae Fisker

      Pages 43-63

   4. Urban Dissensus: Spatial Self-Organisation at Wards Corner

      • Sam Vardy

      Pages 65-81

4. Governing the Urban Differently

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 83-83

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   2. Investigating the Democratic Potential of Temporary Uses in Urban Redevelopment Projects

      • Peter Parker, Nina Vogel, Lisa Diedrich

      Pages 85-107

   3. Mobilizing Alternative Modes of Cultural Governance in Berlin

      • Friederike Landau, Janet Merkel

      Pages 109-132

   4. The Game of Participation in Amsterdam East: An Alternative to the Neoliberal or a Neoliberal Alternative?

      • Zsuzsa Kovács, Peer Smets, Halleh Ghorashi

      Pages 133-155

5. Performing and Producing the Urban Differently

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 157-157

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   2. Urban Alternatives Through Cooperation: Autonomous Geographies and Recreational Running in Sofia, Bulgaria

      • Andrew Barnfield

      Pages 159-178

   3. Alternative Spatial Styles: An Exploration of Socio-Spatial Youth Cultures in Turin

      • Raffaella Ferrero Camoletto, Carlo Genova

      Pages 179-199

   4. The Spatial Features and Temporality of Urban Alternatives

      • Antonella Bruzzese

      Pages 201-222

   5. Carving Enclaves of Alternative Urbanisms in Hong Kong

      • Sonia Lam-Knott

      Pages 223-246

   6. ‘City of Light’: The Production of Urban Space by the Esoteric Spiritual Community of Damanhur, Italy

      • Stefania Palmisano, Alberto Vanolo

      Pages 247-270

   7. Conclusion: Enabling Alternative Urban Futures

      • Jens Kaae Fisker, Letizia Chiappini

      Pages 271-292

This book asks how thinking, governing, performing, and producing the urban differently can assist in enabling the creation of alternative urban futures. It is a timely response to the ongoing crises and pressing challenges that inhabitants of cities, towns, and villages worldwide are faced with in the midst of what has been widely dubbed as ‘an urban age’. Starting from the premise that current urban development patterns are unsustainable in every sense of the word, the book explores how alternative patterns can be pursued by the wide variety of actors – from governments and international institutions to slum-dwellers and social movements – involved in the on-going production of our shared urban condition. The challenges addressed include exclusion and segregation; persisting poverty and increasing inequality; urban sprawl and changing land use patterns; and the spatial frames of urban policy. As such the book appeals to urban scholars, policy makers, activists, and others concerned with shaping the future of our cities and of urban life in general. Additionally, it is of interest to students in urban planning, architecture and design, human geography, urban sociology, and related fields.

• urban planning
• urban and regional development
• urban politics and governance
• comparative urbanism
• social movements
• Sociospatial Youth Culture
• Urban Alternatives
• Autonomous Geographies

“Smart, critical, and refreshingly open minded, the voices collected here offer much needed new perspectives through which to consider urban problems. Neither polemic nor prescription, Enabling Urban Alternatives is instead a hopeful instigation.” (Prof. Gordon Douglas,  Urban & Regional Planning, San Jose State University, USA)

“Now more than ever we must explore alternative urban futures – if we hope to build an urban world that is socially just, environmentally sustainable and capable of maintaining the diversity of urban life. Enabling Urban Alternatives is a timely collection of essays, each of which grapples in a critically constructive way with the challenge of generating changes in our cities that are conducive to different urban forms and practices. This book shows the potential of interdisciplinarity in nourishing and enriching our way of thinking about cities; it also builds a unique framework for understanding alternative practices of urban life beyond the usual divide(s) between the Global North/Global South and the like. As such, it is of immediate relevance to anyone – from policy makers and activists to students and scholars – committed to promoting progressive change for people in cities around the world.” (Prof. Serena Vicari, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Italy)

• Danish Centre for Rural Research, University of Southern Denmark, Esbjerg, Denmark

  Jens Kaae Fisker

• Urban Studies URBEUR, University of Milano Bicocca, Milan, Italy

  Letizia Chiappini

• University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, Australia

  Lee Pugalis

• Dipartimento di Architettura e Studi Urbani, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy

  Antonella Bruzzese

Jens Kaae Fisker is a post-doctoral fellow with the Danish Centre for Rural Research at the University of Southern Denmark, Denmark.


Letizia Chiappini is a PhD candidate in Urban Studies (UrbEur Doctorate) at the University of Milano Bicocca, Italy, and in the Geographies of Globalization research group at the University of Amsterdam (joint doctorate), The Netherlands.


Lee Pugalis is Professor of Urban Studies at the University of Technology Sydney, Australia.


Antonella Bruzzese is Associate Professor at the Politecnico di Milano, Italy, where she teaches and does research and consultancy activities.

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