Practicing Utopia : An Intellectual History of the New Town Movement / Rosemary Wakeman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wakeman, Rosemary, Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

New towns--History--20th century.

New towns.

New towns--Philosophy.

City planning--History--20th century.

City planning.

Regional planning--History--20th century.

Regional planning.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (391 p.)

Place of Publication:

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, [2016]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The typical town springs up around a natural resource-a river, an ocean, an exceptionally deep harbor-or in proximity to a larger, already thriving town. Not so with "new towns," which are created by decree rather than out of necessity and are often intended to break from the tendencies of past development. New towns aren't a new thing-ancient Phoenicians named their colonies Qart Hadasht, or New City-but these utopian developments saw a resurgence in the twentieth century. In Practicing Utopia, Rosemary Wakeman gives us a sweeping view of the new town movement as a global phenomenon. From Tapiola in Finland to Islamabad in Pakistan, Cergy-Pontoise in France to Irvine in California, Wakeman unspools a masterly account of the golden age of new towns, exploring their utopian qualities and investigating what these towns can tell us about contemporary modernization and urban planning. She presents the new town movement as something truly global, defying a Cold War East-West dichotomy or the north-south polarization of rich and poor countries. Wherever these new towns were located, whatever their size, whether famous or forgotten, they shared a utopian lineage and conception that, in each case, reveals how residents and planners imagined their ideal urban future.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Illustrations

Acknowledgments

Introduction

One. The Origins of the New Town Movement

Two. The Futurology of the Ordinary

Three. Exporting Utopia

Four. Cybernetic Cities

Five. Towns of Tomorrow

Six. Architecture for the Space Age

Conclusion: New Towns in the Twenty- First Century

Notes

Selected Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 24. Apr 2020)

ISBN:

9780226346175

022634617X

OCLC:

945663131