Urbanism

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This article is about the character of urban life. For other uses, see Urbanism (disambiguation).
A modern large-scale urban development in Kazan, Russia.
Urbanism is the study of the characteristic ways of interaction of inhabitants of towns and cities
(urban areas) with the built environment. It is a direct component of disciplines such as urban
planning (the physical design and management of urban structures) and urban sociology (the
study of urban life and culture). However, in some contexts internationally Urbanism is
synonymous with Urban Planning, and the Urbanist refers to a Urban Planner.
Many architects, planners, and sociologists investigate the way people live in densely populated
urban areas. There is a huge variety of approaches within urbanism.[1]
Urbanism's emergence in the early 20th century was associated with the rise of centralized
manufacturing, mixed-use neighborhoods, social organizations and networks, and what has been
described as "the convergence between political, social and economic citizenship".[2]
Urbanism can be understood as placemaking and the creation of place identity at a city-wide
level, however as early as 1938 Louis Wirth wrote that it is necessary to stop 'identify[ing]
urbanism with the physical entity of the city', go 'beyond an arbitrary boundary line' and consider
how 'technological developments in transportation and communication have enormously
extended the urban mode of living beyond the confines of the city itself.

Concepts

Urbanism theory writers of the late 20th century

Network-based theories
Gabriel Dupuy applied network theory to the field of urbanism and suggests that the single
dominant characteristic of modern urbanism is its networked character, as opposed to segregated
conceptions of space (i.e. zones, boundaries and edges).[4]
Stephen Graham and Simon Marvin argue that we are witnessing a post-urban environment
where decentralized, loosely connected neighborhoods and zones of activity assume the former
organizing role played by urban spaces. Their theory of splintering urbanism involves the
"fragmentation of the social and material fabric of cities" into "cellular clusters of globally
connected high-service enclaves and network ghettos" driven by electronic networks that
segregate as much as they connect. Dominique Lorrain argues that the process of splintering
urbanism began towards the end of the 20th century with the emergence of the gigacity, a new
form of a networked city characterised by three-dimensional size, network density and the
blurring of city boundaries.[5]
Manuel Castells suggested that within a network society, "premium" infrastructure networks
(high-speed telecommunications, smart highways, global airline networks) selectively connect
together the most favored users and places and bypass the less favored.[5] Graham and Marvin
argue that attention to infrastructure networks is reactive to crises or collapse, rather than
sustained and systematic, because of a failure to understand the links between urban life and
urban infrastructure networks.

Pragmatism
The philosophical movement called pragmatism, which asserts that most philosophical topics are
best viewed in terms of their practical uses and successes, emerged at roughly the same time as
urbanism and pragmatists and urban practitioners have influenced each other.
Part of the philosophy of William James, one of the founding fathers of pragmatism, was to
encourage people to actively reach out to the points where they can critically engage with others.
The theme of democracy was also central to John Dewey's version of pragmatism. He believed
that in a democratic society, every sovereign citizen is capable of achieving personality. He
argued that the concept of place should be open to experimentation for the hope of realising a
better world.[6]
According to Richard J. Bernstein, "these themes are also basic applications of urbanism". Under
pragmatism, place is defined throughout continuous interactions with its dwellers, therefore there
cannot be a platonic ideal of placeless or an essential definition of place. This approach can be
seen in the theory of placemaking that emerged in the 1960s, epitomised by Jan Gehl's quote
"First life, then spaces, then buildings the other way around never works".[7]
Anti-foundationalism and fallibilism are related to pragmatism. In the context of those,
pragmatists argue that the idea of space needs to be able to cope with unpredictability and
change. The notion of a community as inquirers emphasises that the idea of place will be
sustained only as long as there is a community to support it.

Other modern theorists

Douglas Kelbaugh identifies three paradigms within urbanism: New Urbanism, Everyday
Urbanism, and Post-Urbanism.[8]
Paul Knox refers to one of many trends in contemporary urbanism as the "aestheticization of
everyday life".[9]
Alex Krieger states that urban design is less a technical discipline than a mind-set based on a
commitment to cities.[10]