Culture, Urbanism and Planning

The relationship between culture and urbanism has been the focus of much discussion and debate in recent years. While globalisation tends towards a homogeneity, successful 'global cities' have a strong individual - and particularly cultural - identity. The economic value of the culture of cities lies not only in the arts taking place there but also in the city's fabric, its architecture, and in its cultural heritage. This volume brings together a team of leading specialists to examine the policies of image and city marketing which have developed over the past 15 years and whether these are a continuity of earlier strategies. Featuring case studies which illustrate diverse perspectives on linking culture, urbanism and history, the book reviews heritage and planning culture, looking at the experience of urbanism in the 'Old Historic City'. The book also assesses the increasingly important issue of urban images and their influence on planning strategies.

I: Historial and Cultural Perspectives; 1: History Builds the Town: On the Uses of History in Twentieth-century City Planning; 2: The Cultural Dimension of Urban Planning Strategies: An Historical Perspective; 3: Speak, Culture! - Culture in Planning's Past, Present and Future; II: Images and Heritages; 4: Capital Cities and Culture: Evolution of Twentieth-century Capital City Planning; 5: The Power of Anticipation: Itinerant Images of Metropolitan Futures Buenos Aires 1900-1920 1; 6: Words and History: Controversies on Urban Heritage in Italy; 7: Urban Destruction or Preservation? Conservation Movement and Planning in Twentieth-century Scandinavian Capitals; 8: Planning the Historic City: 1960s Plans for Bath and York 1; 9: Multiple Exposures or New Cultural Values? European Historical Centres and Recent Immigration Fluxes; 10: New Urbanism and Planning History: Back to the Future; III: Cultural Urbanism and Planning Strategies; 11: Branding the City of Culture - The Death of City Planning?; 12: International Exhibitions and Planning. Hosting Large-scale Events as Place Promotion and as Catalysts of Urban Regeneration; 13: Contemporary Urban Spectacularisation; 14: Culture, Tradition and Modernity in the Latin American City. Some Recent Experiences; 15: 'Cities Are Fun!': Inventing and Spreading the Baltimore Model of Cultural Urbanism