The City, Pragmatism, Urban Discourse and Sustainability

Contemporary society needs its cities; and sustainability challenges now demand urban solutions. But urbanists and sustainability advocates are not making good use of our urban moment.

This book aims to help enrich the way in which we think and talk about the city, as ‘primary object of contemplation,’ as something so big and important that no one with any hope of forming a coherent picture of the world and our place in it could afford to ignore. It aims to contribute new ways of thinking and talking about cities, so that we neither lose the thread of our urban history, nor how to live well, and better, amidst diversity of all kinds. In building and rebuilding better habits of urban thinking, it is the contention of this book that we can construct and reconstruct means of moral thinking, too.

This book will be a valuable resource for both undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as academics and professionals in the areas of urban and planning policy, sociology and urban and environmental geography.

Meg Holden is an Associate Professor in the Urban Studies Program and Department of Geography, Simon Fraser University, Canada.