Deleuze and the City

Defining the lives of a majority of the world’s population, the question of ‘the city’ has risen to the fore as one the most urgent issues of our time – uniting concerns across the terrain of climate policies, global financing, localised struggles and multi-disciplinary research. Deleuze and the City rests on a conviction that philosophy is crucially important for advancing knowledge on cities, and for allowing us to envisage new forms of urban life toward a more sustainable future. It gathers some of the most original thinkers and accomplished scholars in contemporary urban studies, showing how Deleuze and Guattari’s philosophical project is essential for our thinking through the multi-scalar, uneven and contested landscapes that constitute ‘the city’ today. Case studies range from the ‘laboratory urbanism' of an Austrian ski resort and a ‘sustainable’ Swedish shopping mall to the ‘urbicidal’ refurbishments of Haifa.
Review
This collection unfolds new urban research. The unlimited city extends to all urban practices: passers-by, tourists, sports players and the homeless who merge with indigenous people, settlers, prostitutes and workers to striate the common local space or resist administrative tasks. Research becomes central to this collective assemblage, transversing between times and hierarchies. A great experiment!
-- Anne Querrien, co-editor of the French journal Multitudes and former co-editor of Les Annales de la Recherche Urbaine
From the Inside Flap
Author approvedAdd endorsementDispels the old question of what the city is, asking instead what it can doDefining the livelihood of a majority of the worlds population, the question of the city has risen to the fore as one the most urgent issues of our time uniting concerns across the terrain of climate policies, global financing, localised struggles and multi-disciplinary research.Deleuze and the City rests on a conviction that philosophy is crucially important for advancing knowledge on cities, and for allowing us to envisage new forms of urban life toward a more sustainable future. It gathers some of the most original thinkers and accomplished scholars in contemporary urban studies, showing how Deleuze and Guattaris philosophical project is essential for our thinking through the multi-scalar, uneven and contested landscapes that constitute the city today.Dispelling the old question of what the city is, asking instead what it can do, this collection provides a nuanced mapping of situations emerging in concrete urban settings across the globe, ranging from the laboratory urbanism of an Austrian ski resort to a sustainable Swedish shopping mall.Hélène Frichot is Associate Professor in Critical Studies in Architecture. Catharina Gabrielsson is Assistant Professor in Urban Theory and Jonathan Metzger is Associate Professor of Urban and Regional Studies. They are all based at KTH School of Architecture, Stockholm, Sweden.
From the Back Cover
Author approved Add endorsement Dispels the old question of what the city is, asking instead what it can do Defining the livelihood of a majority of the world’s population, the question of ‘the city’ has risen to the fore as one the most urgent issues of our time – uniting concerns across the terrain of climate policies, global financing, localised struggles and multi-disciplinary research. Deleuze and the City rests on a conviction that philosophy is crucially important for advancing knowledge on cities, and for allowing us to envisage new forms of urban life toward a more sustainable future. It gathers some of the most original thinkers and accomplished scholars in contemporary urban studies, showing how Deleuze and Guattari’s philosophical project is essential for our thinking through the multi-scalar, uneven and contested landscapes that constitute ‘the city’ today. Dispelling the old question of what the city is, asking instead what it can do, this collection provides a nuanced mapping of situations emerging in concrete urban settings across the globe, ranging from the ‘laboratory urbanism‘ of an Austrian ski resort to a ‘sustainable’ Swedish shopping mall. Hélène Frichot is Associate Professor in Critical Studies in Architecture. Catharina Gabrielsson is Assistant Professor in Urban Theory and Jonathan Metzger is Associate Professor of Urban and Regional Studies. They are all based at KTH School of Architecture, Stockholm, Sweden.