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Cities and powerful knowledge: An editorial essay on accepted wisdom and global urban theory [Part I]

2013; Elsevier BV; Volume: 32; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.cities.2013.06.002

1873-6084

Andrew Kirby,

Urbanization and City Planning

Abstract This editorial essay is the first of two designed to lay out a firm intellectual foundation for the material that will be published in future editions of CRoC. This first part is necessarily critical, pointing out that there is a stifling discourse of normative thinking that imposes a rigid framework of what is ‘good’ and what is ‘evil’ in our cities, to use Schorske’s terms. Lacking in understanding of context and place, attempting to impose a rigid template of density and planning practice, this critical framework inhibits our ability to think coherently and creatively about the future—which is what Angel describes as a “planet of cities”.