The Urban RevolutionOriginally published in 1970, The Urban Revolution marked Henri Lefebvre's first sustained critique of urban society, a work in which he pioneered the use of semiotic, structuralist, and poststructuralist methodologies in analyzing the development of the urban environment. Although it is widely considered a foundational book in contemporary thinking about the city, The Urban Revolution has never been translated into English--until now. This first English edition, deftly translated by Robert Bononno, makes available to a broad audience Lefebvre's sophisticated insights into the urban dimensions of modern life. Lefebvre begins with the premise that the total urbanization of society is an inevitable process that demands of its critics new interpretive and perceptual approaches that recognize the urban as a complex field of inquiry. Dismissive of cold, modernist visions of the city, particularly those embodied by rationalist architects and urban planners like Le Corbusier, Lefebvre instead articulates the lived experiences of individual inhabitants of the city. In contrast to the ideology of urbanism and its reliance on commodification and bureaucratization--the capitalist logic of market and state--Lefebvre conceives of an urban utopia characterized by self-determination, individual creativity, and authentic social relationships. A brilliantly conceived and theoretically rigorous investigation into the realities and possibilities of urban space, The Urban Revolution remains an essential analysis of and guide to the nature of the city. |
Contents
From the City to Urban Society | 1 |
Blind Field | 23 |
The Urban Phenomenon | 45 |
Levels and Dimensions | 77 |
Urban Myths and Ideologies | 103 |
Urban Form | 115 |
Toward an Urban Strategy | 135 |
The Urban Illusion | 151 |
Urban Society | 165 |
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Common terms and phrases
abstract activity agrarian agricultural analysis assume Bauhaus become blind field capital capitalist centrality complexification concepts contradictions countryside created critical phase defined dialectical discourse division of labor dominant economic elements epistemology exchange existence fragmentation functions gentrification global global city groups growth habitat habiting Hegel Henri Lefebvre heterotopy historical human ideology implies industrial institutions isotopy knowledge Lefebvre Lefebvre's logic Marx Marxist meaning megalopolis metalanguage metaphilosophy models myth nature neoliberal object Paris path philosophy political city possible problems production projects radical critique rationality relations relations of production relationships representation result rural scientific segregation sense separation situation social practice sociology space-time spatial strategy street structures surplus value theoretical theory thought tion topoi totality transformation urban fabric urban form urban phenomenon urban practice urban problematic urban reality urban revolution urban society urban sociology urban space urbanist utopia virtual