The Open City and its Allies

Urban Planning Ethics in Practice
Erscheinungsjahr 2026
ISBN: 978-981-9237-21-0
Verlag: Palgrave Macmillan

Buch, Englisch, 184 Seiten, Format (B × H): 148 mm x 210 mm

This Open Access book explores the concept of the open city, examining its theoretical foundations, normative implications, and real-world practices in contemporary urban planning.

The chapters move from conceptual debates on openness and empirical cases, investigating how cities address key challenges such as democracy, freedom, inclusion, creativity, learning, governance, and urban change. Contributors examine tensions between order and disorder, openness and closure, and ask who benefits from urban transformation and under what conditions. By connecting urban theory with planning practice, the volume offers a critical yet accessible reflection on the future of cities.

Developed through the work of the Thematic Group “Ethics, Values and Planning” of the Association of European Schools of Planning, this book provides an essential resource for scholars, practitioners, and students interested in open cities, urban governance, democratic planning, and institutional design.

Zielgruppe

Research

Autoren/Hrsg.

De Franco, Anita

Cozzolino, Stefano

Fachgebiete

• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Volkswirtschaftslehre Regional- und Städtische Wirtschaft
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziologie Allgemein
• Geowissenschaften Geographie | Raumplanung Humangeographie
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Systeme Kommunal-, Regional-, und Landespolitik
• Geisteswissenschaften Architektur Architektur: Allgemeines
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Stadt- und Regionalsoziologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Chapter 1: Introduction.- Chapter 2: Conceptualizing the Open City: What is “Open”, in what ways, and why.- Chapter 3: Scaling the Open City: A Micro-Meso-Macro Approach.- Chapter 4: Bridging the Open City: the Interplay Between Conditions and Outcomes.- Chapter 5: Building the Open City: Learning through piecemeal experimentations.- Chapter 6: Fostering the Open City: What role for spatial designers?.- Chapter 7: Revisiting the Open City: Liberal-Democratic Principles in Pre-Modern and Contemporary Planning.- Chapter 8: Closing the Open City: the allure and risk of simplified futures.

Über Autor(innen)

Anita De Franco is a postdoc research fellow at the Department of Architecture and Urban Studies at Polytechnic University of Milan (Italy), co-founder and executive member of NORMACTIVITY: international research network on human and non-human normativity.

Stefano Cozzolino is a senior researcher at ILS – Research Institute for Regional and Urban Development (Dortmund, Germany) and a Lecturer at RWTH University (Germany) in the Chair of Urban Design.