Download Cities in European History

Urban History and the Urban Paradox
A long term view on urbanization and claims to the city
Bert De Munck
Professeur Invité
SciencesPo Bordeaux, Université de Bordeaux
[email protected]
BACKGROUND
Urban studies is arguably haunted currently by one key paradox: As urbanization increases
and accelerates, the boundaries and delimitations of cities grow ever more fluid and blurred.
Moreover, ever since the modernist paradigm lost credibility and planning became influenced
by a neo-liberal logic, cities have lost their internal spatial and functional coherence. (Graham
& Marvin 2001) Consequently, at the same time as the importance of studying urbanity and
urbanization soars, the object of study has become nearly impossible to identify and define.
In response, geographers, planners and urban sociologists have devised new concepts and
approaches. While some scholars applaud ‘the triumph of the city’ (Barber 2013; Glaeser
2012) others refer to the city as something ‘splintered’, ‘assembled’ and ‘imagined’ (Amin &
Thrift 2002; Graham & Marvin 2001; Farías & Bender 2010) or they seek refuge in such
concepts as ‘post-city’ or ‘ex-urban’. This problem is all the more urgent as cities are mostly
addressed from a range of separate disciplines, each highlighting a different urban reality and
object of study. While urban sociologists study, for instance, the fate and actions of specific
human groups in urban environments, urban geographers and urban planners rather focus
on the spatial and material dimensions of cities. Almost by necessity, each of the disciplines
involved in the broader field of urban studies reduces the urban to a limited set of linkages
and variables – be they social, economic, spatial, infrastructural, or rather political,
institutional or cultural.
The fact that cities, perhaps especially European cities, are nevertheless conceived of a
something bounded and delimited, and as a specific object of study, can only be understood
properly when including a historical perspective – ideally including the pre-industrial period,
in which cities had clearer boundaries as well as a clearer cultural, political and juridical status.
The definition and identity of cities, which is formed and shaped in the popular, political ánd
scientific imagination, very much harks back to that history. This is not to say, of course, that
cities are mere discursive constructs or simply the product of ideologies or specific
imaginaries. The point is, rather, that in history as well there has always been a tension
between, on one hand, the urban as a material, technical and infrastructural reality and, on
the other, the city as a social, political and cultural matter of concern. Nor was there ever a
one-to-one relationship between both dimensions. The very origin of urban sociology and
urban studies in the nineteenth century can be situated in an era in which the boundaries
between city and countryside became more blurred. The paradox is that this did not prevent
urban sociologists to build on a strong mental distinction between town and countryside (or
at least between Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft). Even in the pre-industrial period, when
most cities were demarcated with walls, the city as a juridical and political entity did mostly
not overlap with the city as a walled territory.
This course sets out, therefore, to better understand the relationship between 1°
urbanization as a quantifiable and material process and 2° the claims to the urban made by
different social groups. The aim is to develop a long term perspective and illustrate the
importance of historical contingency, path dependency and the longue durée with respect to
both dimensions. Current theories often remain indebted to nineteenth and twentiethcentury narratives of modernity, if not to a persistent tradition of conceptual and empirical
approaches emanating from intellectual hothouses like Berlin and Chicago at the turn of the
twentieth century (Saunders 1981) and the study of a limited number of so-called
representative Western cities (Athens, Rome, Paris, London, New York) which still define the
horizons of urban theory and are even used as a template to evaluate and judge other urban
experiences. (Edensor & Jayne 2012) The historical perspective is often limited, with the
chronological scope of research mostly including the post-WW II period only. A long term view
and a focus on the complexity and irreversibility of history, can help to better understand
today’s urban condition in general and the struggles related to the right to the city in specific.
In concrete terms, this course will first pause at how urban studies is grounded in a specific
intellectual tradition, originating in a specific historical context and leading to persistent
narratives of modernity. Secondly, an overview of the processes of urbanization (in Europe)
will be presented and discussed, followed by an historical analysis of the way the ideal city
was conceived and imagined. Subsequently, more thematic courses will zero in on how cities
and the urban were defined and imagined by different social groups in a context of ever
changing material and technical realities, showing that this was typically connected to the
interests and self-image of specific social groups and the way they perceived, understood and
justified their own right to the city. The central focus will be on the connections between the
‘human’ and the ‘non-human’. On the one hand, it will become clear how cities were
fabricated as nods in a range of networks on different scalar levels, ranging from cityhinterland relations to regional relations all the way up to the global scale. On the other hand,
it will be shown how specific ideologies and rationalities of government literally materialized
in the city, how processes of territorialisation took shape, and how urban subjects were
created in this process. (Joyce 2003; Otter 2008; Elden 2013)
Geographically, the focus will largely be on the European cities. This is not, of course, with an
eye at reproducing Eurocentric views. The aim is rather to provincialize Europe and to expand
Dipesh Chakrabarty’s call into the field of urban studies. Chakrabarty (2010) and others have
shown how European intellectual traditions and concepts continue to inform and shape the
history of non-European regions. The use of European narratives of modernity as a template
for the history of non-European regions creates the illusion that these other regions show
lacks or a history yet to unfold. The post-colonial response to this is to de-naturalize and deuniveralise European history and its implied concepts like freedom, the individual, the public
sphere, and the nation state. The urban and the city can easily be added to that list, which is
the ultimate aim of this course.
COURSES AND READINGS
1. Urban History and the History of Urban Theory
Saunders, P. Social Theory and the Urban Question. London etc: Hutchinson, 1981, pp. 11-47
(Chapter 1: ‘Social Theory, Capitalism and the Urban Question’).
Savage, M. and Warde, A. Urban Sociology, Capitalism and Modernity. Basingstoke: Macmillan,
1993, pp. 7-33 (Chapter 2: ‘The Roots of Urban Sociology’).
Further reading:
Farías, I. ‘Introduction. Decentring the Object of Urban Studies’, in Farías, I. and Bender, B. eds.
Urban Assemblages: How Actor-Network Theory changes Urban Studies (London/New York:
Routledge, 2010), pp. 1-24.
2. Urbanization in Europe: A Long Term Perspective
Hohenberg, P.M. and Lees, L.H. The Making of Urban Europe, 1000-1950. Cambridge Ma: Harvard
University Press, 1985, pp. 22-46 (Chapter 1: ‘The Structures and Functions of Medieval Towns’).
De Vries, J. European Urbanization, 1500-1800. London: Methuen & co. Ltd, 1984, pp. 253-266
(Chapter 11: ‘Conclusions’).
Further reading:
- Metcalf, T.R. ‘Colonial Cities’, in: Clark, P. ed. The Oxford Handbook of Cities in World History.
Oxford: Oxford university Press, 2013, pp. 753-769.
- Jauhiainen, J.S. ‘Suburbs’, in: Clark, P. ed. The Oxford Handbook of Cities in World History. Oxford:
Oxford university Press, 2013, pp. 791-808.
3. The Ideal City: A History of the Urban Imaginary
Mumford, L. The City in History: Its Origins, its Transformations, and its Prospects. Auckland: Penguin
Books, first ed. 1961, pp 186-213 (Chapter 6: ‘Citizen Versus Ideal City’).
Rosenau, H. The Ideal City: Its Architectural Evolution in Europe. London/New York: Methuen & co.,
1983, pp. 9-67 (Chapters 1-3: ‘The Ancient Tradition’, ‘The Middle Ages’, and ‘The Renaissance
Development and the Mannerist Phase’).
Jerram, L. Streetlife: The Untold History of Europe’s Twentieth Century. Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 2011, pp. 317-85 (Chapter 5: ‘Building Utopia – How Cities Shaped our Lives and our Minds’).
Further reading:
- Ober, J. ‘The Polis as a Society: Aristotle, John Rawls, and the Athenian Social Contract, in: Ober, J.
The Athenian Revolution. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1988, pp. 161–187.
- Sennett, R. Flesh and Stone: The Body and the City in Western Civilization (New York/London: W.W.
Norton & co., 1996), pp. 255-81 (Chapter 8: ‘Moving Bodies’).
4. Cities and their Hinterland: A History of the Urban Metabolism
Lucassen, L. ‘Population and Migration’, in: Clark, P. ed. The Oxford Handbook of Cities in World
History. Oxford: Oxford university Press, 2013, pp. 664-682.
Tarr, J.A. ‘Urban Environmental History’, in: Uekoetter, F. ed. The Turning Points of Environmental
History. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2010, pp. 72-89.
Billen, G., Garnier, J. and Barles, S. ‘History of the Urban Environmental Imprint: Introduction to a
Multidisciplinary Approach to the Long-Term Relationships between Western Cities and Their
Hinterland’, Regional Environmental Change 12/2 (2012): 249-253.
Further reading:
-Cronon W. ‘The Trouble with Wilderness: Or, Getting Back to the Wrong Nature’, With commentary.
Environmental History 1 (1996): 7-28 (reprinted in Idem: Uncommon Ground. Rethinking the human
place in nature, New York-London, 1996).
5. The City as a Place and Lived Space
Gilbert, A. ‘Poverty Inequality, and Social Segregation’, in: Clark, P. ed. The Oxford Handbook of Cities
in World History. Oxford: Oxford university Press, 2013, pp. 683-699.
Otter, C. ‘Making Liberalism Durable: Vision and Civility in the late Victorian City’, Social History 27:1
(January 2002): 1-15.
Jerram, L. Streetlife: The Untold History of Europe’s Twentieth Century. Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 2011, pp. 101-171 (Chapter 2: ‘No Place for a Lady?).
Further reading:
- Davis, N.Z. ‘The Sacred and the Body Social in Sixteenth-Century Lyon.’ Past and Present 90 (Febr.
1981): 40-70.
- Melosi, M.V., ‘The Urban Environment’, in: Clark, P. ed. The Oxford Handbook of Cities in World
History. Oxford: Oxford university Press, 2013, pp. 701-719.
6. The Right to the City: a History of Strife and Struggle
Boone, M. and Prak, M. ‘Rulers, Patricians and Burghers: The Great and Little Tradition of Urban
Revolt in the Low Countries.’ In Davids, K. and Lucassen, J. eds. A Miracle Mirrored: The Dutch
Republic in European Perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995, pp. 99-134.
Preteceille, E. ‘Segregation, Class and Politics in Large Cities’, in: Bagnasco, A. and Le Galés, P. eds.
Cities in Contemporary Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000, pp. 74-97.
Mayer, M. ‘Social Movements in European Cities: Transitions from the 1970s to the 1990s’, in:
Bagnasco, A. and Le Galés, P. eds. Cities in Contemporary Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 2000, pp. 131-152.
Further reading:
- Chittolini, Giorgio. ‘Cities, “City-States”, and Regional States in North-Central Italy.’ In Tilly, Charles
and Blockmans, Wim P. eds. Cities and the Rise of States in Europe, A.D. 1000 to 1800. Boulder etc,:
Westview Press, 1994, pp. 28-43.
7. Creative Cities and the History of the Creative Class
Heβler, M. and Zimmermann, C. ‘Introduction: Creative Urban Milieus – Historical Perspectives on
Culture, Economy, and the City’, in: Heβler, M. and Zimmermann, C. eds. Creative Urban Milieus:
Historical Perspectives on Culture, Economy, and the City. Frankfurt: Campus, 2008, pp. 1-38.
Van Damme, I and De Munck, B. ‘Cities of a Lesser God: Opening the Black-Box of Creative Cities and
their Agency’, in: Van Damme, I., De Munck, B. and A. Miles, eds. Cities and Creativity from the
Renaissance to the Present (Routledge, forthcoming).
Further reading:
- Pratt, Andy C. (2008) Creative cities: the cultural industries and the creative class. Geografiska
annaler: Series B - Human geography, 90/2 (2008): 107-117.
- Wilson, D. and Keil, R. ‘The real creative class’, Social & Cultural Geography, 9 (2008): 841-847.
8. Epilogue: Re-Imagining the City
Elden, S. ‘How Should we do the History of Territory?’ Territory, Politics, Governance 1/1 (2009): 520.
De Munck, B. ‘Disassembling the City: A Historical and an Epistemological View on the Agency of
Cities’, Journal of Urban History (2015): 1-19.
REFERENCES
Amin, A. and Thrift, N. (2002). Cities: Re-Imagining the Urban. Oxford: Policy Press.
Barber, B.R. (2013). If mayors ruled the world: Dysfunctional nations, rising cities. New haven &
London: Yale University Press.
Chakrabarty, D. (2010). Provincializing Europe: Postcolonial Thought and Historical Difference. Ithaca:
Cornell University Press.
Edensor, T. and Jayne, M. (2012). Urban theory beyond the West. A world of cities. London/New York:
Routledge.
Elden, S. (2013). The Birth of Territory. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press.
Farías, I. and Bender, T. eds. (2010). Urban Assemblages: How Actor-Network Theory changes Urban
Studies. London and New York: Routledge.
Glaeser, E. (2012). Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter,
Greener, Healthier, and Happier. New York: The Penguin Press, reprint.
Graham, S. and Marvin, S. (2001). Splintering Urbanism: Networked Infrastructures, Technological
Mobilities and the Urban Condition. London/New York: Routledge.
Joyce, P. (2003). The Rule of Freedom. Liberalism and the Modern City. London/New York: Verso.
Otter, C. (2008). The Victorian Eye. A Political History of Light and Vision in Britain, 1800-1910.
Chicago/London: University of Chicago Press.
Saunders, P. (1982). Social Theory and the Urban Question. London etc: Hutchinson.
Handbooks:
Clark, P. (2009). European Cities and Towns, 400-2000. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Pinol, J.-L. ed. (2003). Histoire de l’Europe urbaine, 2 vols. Paris: Éditions du Seuil, 2003.
Clark, P. ed. (2013). The Oxford Handbook of Cities in World History. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
EXAMINATION:
An essay. The student will be required to hand this assignment in on the teacher’s digital work
environment on the Moodle website three weeks after the end of the course.