Democracy and Urban Form brings into print the six lectures Richard Sennett gave at the Harvard Graduate School of Design in 1981, arguing that the way cities are built can either sustain or suppress the public discourse on which democracy depends.
About This Book
When Richard Sennett addressed the Harvard Graduate School of Design in 1981, his verdict on the profession was blunt: architecture's capacity to shape political life had never been greater, and its awareness of that capacity had never been weaker. Over six lectures he built the case that democracy rests on discourse—on citizens encountering one another, disagreeing and exchanging views—and that cities are uniquely placed to open up or close down that exchange. Whether they do, he argued, is very often a matter of architecture and urban design.
More than four decades later, with political polarisation taking both familiar and new forms, the lectures read less as a historical record than as a live provocation. This compact hardcover, part of The Incidents series, gives architects, planners and anyone invested in civic life a direct route into Sennett's thinking on the public realm.
Key Features
- Six lectures delivered at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design in 1981, now in book form
- A sustained argument linking the physical form of cities to the health of democratic discourse
- Written by one of the most influential social theorists of urban life
- Part of The Incidents series
What You'll Discover
- Why Sennett locates the foundation of democracy in discourse—the everyday exchange between citizens
- How urban form can widen or narrow the conditions for public exchange
- Sennett's diagnosis of a discipline whose political reach far outstripped its political sensibility
- Why questions first put to architects in 1981 bear directly on today's polarised politics
About the Author
Richard Sennett is a sociologist and urban theorist who has written for more than 50 years on social life in cities, the changing nature of work and social theory. His books include The Fall of Public Man, The Hidden Injuries of Class, The Corrosion of Character and The Culture of the New Capitalism. He founded the New York Institute for the Humanities, has taught at New York University and the London School of Economics, and has served as Senior Advisor to the United Nations Program on Climate Change and Cities. His honours include the Hegel and Spinoza prizes and an honorary doctorate from the University of Cambridge.
Specifications
- Format: Hardcover
- Dimensions: 127 × 178 mm
- Pages: 264
- Language: English
- ISBN: 9781915609472
- Publisher: Sternberg Press
Perfect For: Architects and urban designers engaged with civic space, students of urban theory and political philosophy, and anyone thinking critically about how the built environment shapes democratic life.