Cities Rethought: A New Urban Disposition

In a world of disruptions and seemingly endless complexity, cities have become central to thinking about the future of humanity. Yet the study of cities is fragmented among different silos of expertise, diverse genres of scholarship, and widening chasms between theory and practice. How can we do better?

Cities Rethought suggests that we need to remake the way we see and know cities in order to rethink how we act and intervene within them. To this end, it offers the contours of a new urban disposition. Its normative, analytical, and operational elements offer an opportunity for scholars, practitioners, and citizens alike to approach the complexity of cities anew.

Written collectively for a wide audience, the text draws from cities across the global north and south, speaks across diverse genres of ideas, and reflects on the lived experience of the authors as both researchers and practitioners. It is an essential text for anyone committed to knowing their own cities as well as finding ways to meaningfully intervene in them.

Gautam Bhan is Associate Dean of the School of Human Development at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements
Michael Keith is Professor and Director of PEAK Urban at the University of Oxford
Susan Parnell is Chair in Human Geography at the University of Bristol
Edgar Pieterse is DST/NRF South African Chair in Urban Policy and Director of the African Centre for Cities at the University of Cape Town