What is The Future for Cities?

127R_Urban futures – Idealization, capitalization, securitization (research summary)

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Are you interested in how urban futures have changed over time? 

Summary of the article titled Urban futures – Idealization, capitalization, securitization from 2022 by Austin Zeiderman and Katherine Dawson, published in the City – Analysis of Urban Change, Theory, Action journal. 

Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see how our imagination has changed regarding our cities’ futures. This article presents insights into forms of urban future-making and thinking, which lays the groundwork to identify what is at stake in imagining the future of cities in one way or another.

As the most important things, I would like to highlight 3 aspects:

  1. A consensus has emerged in the first decades of the 21st century: the global future is an urban future, but the urban future is a centrally important problem.
  2. The urban future probably will remain a strategic terrain of social and political struggle and the authors hoped the presented knowledge will support the efforts of urban scholars, practitioners, activists and citizens alike to engage, critically, creatively and constructively – with the city of tomorrow today.
  3. By taking stock of both historical perspectives and contemporary possibilities, we can learn to better understand the imaginary and material processes that bring cities into being and perhaps even how to shape them in widely beneficial and truly inclusionary ways.

You can find the article through this link.

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You can find the transcript through this link.

What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter @WTF4Cities or on the wtf4cities.com website where the shownotesare also available.

I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.

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